X Marks the Scot - An on-line community of kilt wearers.
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14th December 12, 05:17 AM
#8
I don't think just any kilt maker would be able to make a Kingussie pleated kilt for you. For starters, many if not most of them would likely have never heard of such a beast. Fewer still would have had an occasion to see one in person or have actually made one before.
I have a section on my web site describing this style here:
http://www.newhousehighland.com/kingussie.html
The oldest kilt known to have been made in this style is from c. 1820 and is a Robertson tartan. This kilt is presently held at the Highland Folk Museum in Kingussie. Bob Martin documents this kilt in his book All About Your Kilt, and he is the one who coined the term "Kingussie pleat" to describe this unique style of pleating, after studying the kilt at the Highland Folk Museum.
The Robertson tartan this kilt was made from is not the one normally seen today, but has a white line added to the sett. More info here in the National Register.

For those in the US, you can see a replica of this original kilt in the Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin. The cloth was hand woven by Peter MacDonald and the kilt made by Bob Martin.
Also on display in the Scottish Tartans Museum is a second kilt discovered in this same pleating style, in the Muirhead tartan (or what in modern times has been adopted as the Muirhead tartan). This kilt, made c. 1840, belonged to William Muirhead, of Edinburgh, who migrated to the US in 1854. It is only the second historical kilt to be identified made in this unusual pleating style.
You can read more about that kilt here:
http://scottishtartans.org/muirhead.htm
Both of these kilts are low yardage, being made with about 4 yards of cloth.
Aye,
Matt
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