Quote Originally Posted by mookien View Post
Someone please enlighten me. In Dr. Nicholas J. Fiddes' excellent e-book (for beginners like me) available on the Scotweb home page, he writes,

"A third even rarer method of pleating, ‘to horizontal’, involves choosing a point in the sett for the folds that creates the illusion of a series of strong horizontal bands across the rear. Only a true master of kiltmaking is likely to accomplish this successfully, so do not ask it of a novice. But anyway, it is arguably rare for a reason, as many find it less flattering or aesthetically pleasing."

I know about pleating to sett and stripe, but what exactly is being described here, and why do many find it less pleasing?

My kilt is pleated to a particular stripe and creates a horizontal-band pattern on the pleats. Why wouldn't it be described as pleated "to horizontal"? I see lots of kilts like it and they look good to me!

- Puzzled in Bamburgh
While being measured by Rocky I enquired about an unusual line set and he refered to the unflattering result as the lawn chair effect. That is to say the bars resembling having sat upon a strapped chair and being left with those horizontal stripes.