Quote Originally Posted by xman View Post
But this argument for economy breaks down in that eventually eight yards of cloth would be used because it looked smart, not because it was economical. That's not so economical. I submit that the decision was more likely made to look 'uniform'. Each pleat looks exactly like every other pleat on parade.
Not really. Very few so-called 'eight yard' military kilts contain eight yards. With the tartans I mentioned only half of the sett is used per pleat. And, yes, uniformity was also a consideration.