Has anyone ever actually measured and compared kilt swing?

[figheadair]

But I'm having some difficulty with some of the claims about issues that seem a bit led by fashion and trends, especially when I consider that the modern full-8-yard kilt is quite a recent (i.e. 20th Century) invention.

This is a key point in the development of the modern kilt that is often overlooked. Many people, including some kiltmakers, believe that the kilt has always had 8yds and that it is 'not a proper kilt' unless it has so.

I cannot recall any pre-1900 kilt I've examined having anywhere that amount. The as to why we have got this amount, apart from the fact that we like to codify and regulate things, probably lies in part in the move from pleating to stripe to pleating to sett. They latter generally requires more material and hence, a tradition is born.