Kilt Terminology / Verbiage

[dea3369]

I've been looking at various posts and have run into words or phrases whose meanings elude me. I searched the FAQ but found no help. Does anybody know of a website or sites that might define or describe kilt-related terminology? For example, what is pleating to the stripe versus to the sett? I'm interested because I'm getting ready to make/build my first tartan kilt. I've been making solid-color kilts until now. Thank you.

[LitTrog]

I am not a kilt maker, so surely you'll receive better answers than this, but in a nutshell:
Pleating to the sett attempts to create the same pattern on the pleats as you would see on the apron.
Pleating to the stripe picks one stripe to be the center of each pleat and can produce some striking differences, depending on which stripe is chosen.

From a thread by Barb T.:

Every once in awhile, I have the opportunity to post pictures of kilts in the same tartan but pleated differently. It's been awhile since I've done it, and I thought I'd do a quick post for anyone new.

When a kilt is pleated to the sett, it looks pretty much the same fore and aft. When it's pleated to the stripe, however, the back can look very different from the front, and that's part of the charm of pleating to the stripe. And different choices can have very different appearances. If you intend to pleat a kilt to the stripe, it's worth pinning up several alternatives and then standing back a ways to see what the overall effect is. Some choices are fabulous, and others are, shall we say, less than felicitous...

[Jock Scot]

What a good question! I am sure many come here needing answers like that, to basic kilt terminology.

[sailortats]

Maybe this will help you some. Here is the same Celtic Nations tartan. First pic is Mickey's pleated to the white stripe. The 2nd pic is mine pleated to the sett. As you can see there is a big difference even though both are the same tartan and look identical from the front.

[gmc]

Another quick example of the two.

MacMillan Hunting Modern pleated to the yellow stripe.


MacMillan Hunting Modern pleated to the sett.

[James Hood]

A glossary would be SO hip.

[unixken]

Here's an example of "pleating to the sett". This is my new 8-yd Buchanan. The photos clearly show the pattern of the tartan persists on the back, despite the pleats.

The front apron...
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/dscn0013j.jpg/

The back, pleated to the sett...
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...scn0014er.jpg/

[dea3369]

Many thanks to all.

[ForresterModern]

I can start off the glossary and others chime in with additions or corrections:

kilt: a garment of celtic, generally scottish, origins, consisting of a skirtlike configuration with pleats to the rear and under and over aprons to the front. typically the under apron folds from right to left across the wearer's front, and the apron or over apron folds from left to right with the fringe edge to the kilt wearer's front right. Pleats always to the back, preferably.

Pleating: various types of ways in which the redundant fabric at the rear of the kilt is folded repetitively, including knife pleat, box pleat, Kingussie pleating, reverse Kingussie pleating, double box pleat, barrel pleating, and some rarer styles; picture examples are avaialble elsewhere.

Pleating to....: to stripe means that each pleat centers on a particular stripe, to sett means the pleating is designed so ast to be a continuation of the sett pattern of the tartan, toe the horizontal means generally pleating to "no stripe" or rather to a solid color block or broad solid stripe that gives strong hozontal representation of the tartan threadcount but the only vertical is the edge of the pleats themselves. Other pleating patterns are out there but less common.

Fell: the sewn together portions of the pleats at the upper few inches of the rear pleated section of the kilt, shaped so as to make the fit of the kilt tailored to the wearer's waist and hip measurements

Reverse pleat: typically slightly deeper pleat at the right margin of the underapron that has its edge facing rearward, or reversed to all the other standard knife pleats, adds extra mobility to the pleats without distorting the apron

Deep pleat: first pleat at the left edge of the apron which, for the same reason of mobility, is deeper than the rest

selvedge: or "self-edge", the finished edge of tartan fabric that is ready to be used as the lower edge of the kilt without formal hemming (folding under and re-sewing); two major types, standard or classic (old original style) and tuck-in (newer type that is typical on newer high-speed rapier looms used by several major tartan manufacturers)

width: tartan material is usually described as being either single width (approximately 70-75cm) or double width (140-150cm) based on the width it is woven in; kilts are made from single width material of a specified length (4, 5, 6, 8 yards) or from a oiece of double width tartan of half the length needed that is split down its length and then lined up and sewn together to for a long single width piece with the joining seam hidden within one of the pleats

weight: tartan material is described by its weight, that being approximately one yard of double width fabric weighed in ounces; weight is based on the thickness and weight of the thread used to fulfill the threadcount of a certain sett of tartan; 8oz is typically small size sett and light weight material used for ties hats and other lightweight uses; 10-11 oz can be used for tartan kilts but is kind of lightweight for the purpose and more typically used for womens skirts, ties, caps, scarves, etc..., and usually has a larger sett than 8oz at least in part because of the larger diameter threads needed to weave it from; 12-13 oz is considered midweight fabric suitable for kilts and other uses, usually with a slightly larger sett due to larger thread needed to weave it; 15-16 oz is the "standard" wool weight for tartan kilts, considered standard or heavyweight, again with slightly larger setts typically due to the larger threads needed to weave it; 18-22oz is considered regimental or superheavyweight, was typically used for military kilts, a super find when you can get it nowadays, but can make a very heavy kilt that can be warm in the winter and darnd hot in the summer;

Threadcount: the design of a tartan is described in its threadcount, that typically reversing and repeating pattern that is usually identical in both warp and weft directions of the weave (cross and lengthwise directions), using a letter symbol for the color thread and a number for the number of adjacent threads of that color, followed by the next color symbol and number of threads of that color, on and on until the count is completed then reversed, then reversed/repeated again, over and over forming the repeating pattern of the tartan; most tartans are symmetric (the same thread count forward and backward) although some are asymmetric (unidirectional repeating---examples are Maple Leaf and Rainbow)

rise: your anatomic waist is not where your jeans sit, but rather above your bony hips and closer to your belly button. This should theoretically be the narrowest circumference of your kilt once made with the difference between it and the hip measurement being what allows the kilt to sit on your natural lower body flare. There is typically two more inches of material above that natural waist in a kilt that extends about up to or maybe a smidgen over your navel, and that two inches is called the rise; old style military kilts may have been made with longer rises sometimes.

straps: at least two on standard kilts, one over each hip, acting like mini belts to adjust and tighten waist size to fit. Kilts are often made with a third strap on the right hip below the right waist strap, although it is not necessary

belt loops/sporran loops: typically two thin but 3 inches or more long "belt " loops on the fell of the kilt, used by many for their belts but more historically likely designed for your sporran belt/strap; very much optional and not really necessary

Swish: the swinging action of a wellmade kilt

Swoon: the effect on women when a man walks by wearing a kilt with good swish

Hope this abreviated glossary is helpful. Probably better definitions in Barb's book or Matt's website or in other's posts before or after this one but this is a start.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I have an article here that deals with "tartan terminology."
http://www.albanach.org/terminology.html

It deals more with questions such as what ancient, modern, weathered, dress and hunting mean. Perhaps I'll have to write one dealing with kilt-specific terminology, as well.