Brian,

Thanks for the clarification on Matt wearing the Breacan Feile in the photo. I had erroneously thought this photo was taken after he sewed up the kilt.

Your line of reasoning seems to make sense in the abstract and I follow your logic, really, I do. Also, I find that my hands-down favorite kilts are 6yd knife-pleats because they are much more comfortable when wearing outside in warm weather all day, so I'm not averse to allowing good common sense to modify traditional practices when it makes sense.

That being said, the only kilt that I wear for evening events now is an 8yd knife-pleat, since it matches my Argyle hose. I have worn BP kilts for evening events in the past, but as my views have slowly evolved I've started paring down to only those kilts that I wear on a regular basis. I still have one remaining BP kilt, but haven't worn it for quite a while. While Kingussie and BP kilts may not be noticed as being different, I don't believe that they are "traditional" in the very narrow sense of the word. That doesn't mean that they aren't very nice kilts.

As far as the difference between them and the breacan feile, perhaps it's a matter of degree. While a Kingussie or BP may be out of the ordinary and not strictly "traditional", the breacan feile, for me, crosses the line well into historical "dress-up". Perhaps it's the fact that the Kingussie and the BP look like a "traditional" kilt from the front (the Kingussie looks a lot like a "traditional" kilt from the back, as well), whereas the breacan feile looks like a completely different beast, particularly with the excess fabric swagged around the upper torso. As I said, there are some folks who can pull of this look very well, but it's not one that I generally find attractive or traditional.

David