Quote Originally Posted by argyle24 View Post
Sean,

When you take a kiltwearer's measurements and then sort out how they translate into the measures at the apron and the pleats, it will be unusual for you to find that they'll be an equal split front to back.

Most humans are not equally proportional from front to back. The small of the back curves inwards and our posteriors stick out further than the same area in front. In figuring splits, you would initially make an even figure (e.g. - 34" would be divided out to 17" and 17") and then make adjustments from there. Rule of thumb is to put more of the measure in the apron than the pleats at the waist and then conversely, flip that for the measure of the apron at the fell (fullest part of the buttocks) as you would need more material in the pleats around your butt than in the front.

This shaping is what causes a properly made kilt to 'fit like a glove', snug into the small of the back and then allowing the pleats to follow the shape of the wearer to the fell and then hang straight.

So your finding that the apron at the waist measured 19.5" and 16.5" at the pleats gives you a figure of 36" at the waist. That is bigger than your given measurement of 34" at the waist, so you may have the kilt buckled a hole or two tighter to ensure it feels appropriately tight when wearing (that's completely fine - kilts are flexible garments and often designed to fit the wearer's initially submitted measurements with the kilt buckled on the 3rd hole of the strap) The finding that the back measure across the fell is 20" is also appropriate - if it had the same measure as the pleats across the waist, the kilt wouldn't shape to you and wouldn't fit right! Does that help?
Thank you. I think that makes perfect sense.