Kilt belt loops?

[Jock Scot]

This has descended into madness! The very thought of a well dressed gentleman buttoning the bottom button on a waistcoat! I can't believe what I'm reading. It's simply not to be done! Next people are going to say that it's correct to button the bottom button on a "saxon" suit jacket as well?!

;)

Actually Nathan you are not comparing like with like. Saxon attire has one tradition and Highland attire has another when it comes to the bottom waistcoat button. I well recall, in my youth, wandering around Inverness in what I thought was full sartorial kilt attire splendour and being taken to task in the High Street by one of the foremost Highland tailors of the time and being told in no uncertain terms the whys a wherefores of doing up ones bottom button of a waistcoat when wearing the kilt. All very embarrassing for me and in fact he was only telling me what my father,Grandfather and six uncles had been telling me and had chosen, in my rebellious youth to ignore.

Is the world going to stop spinning if the bottom button is/isn't done up? No, of course not. However a public dressing down in the High Street of Inverness does have an effect!

[Nathan]

Actually Nathan you are not comparing like with like. Saxon attire has one tradition and Highland attire has another when it comes to the bottom waistcoat button. I well recall, in my youth, wandering around Inverness in what I thought was full sartorial kilt attire splendour and being taken to task in the High Street by one of the foremost Highland tailors of the time and being told in no uncertain terms the whys a wherefores of doing up ones bottom button of a waistcoat when wearing the kilt. All very embarrassing for me and in fact he was only telling me what my father,Grandfather and six uncles had been telling me and had chosen, in my rebellious youth to ignore.

Is the world going to stop spinning if the bottom button is/isn't done up? No, of course not. However a public dressing down in the High Street of Inverness does have an effect!

Hopefully the little ";)" smiley demonstrated that my tongue was placed firmly in cheek. ;) =

[BCAC]

Hopefully the little ";)" smiley demonstrated that my tongue was placed firmly in cheek. ;) =

The problem being, Nathan, that these funny thingies are not traditional enough to be taken into account by us auld crabbits.

[creagdhubh]

The problem being, Nathan, that these funny thingies are not traditional enough to be taken into account by us auld crabbits.

Hahaha! Indeed.

[Jock Scot]

Hopefully the little ";)" smiley demonstrated that my tongue was placed firmly in cheek. ;) =

I am sorry that wee bit of technodetail was totally lost on a technodunce like me!

[Father Bill]

Of course a well-built kilt stays on by itself... unless like some of us, you have a 44" belly, 39" hips and a 38" butt. Take a breath and you're naked!

THEN a belt is worth something more: You're unlikely to take a breath!

[Dale Seago]

While it's no doubt an egregious sin, on my made-to-measure kilts which do have belt loops (4 out of 9 kilts) I don't put either the dirk belt OR the sporran strap through the loops. Since my girth tapers inward a bit from the bottom of my ribs to the slightly-wider tops of my hipbones (not exactly an "hourglass" figure but tending in that direction) the sporran strap is never in any danger of slipping off.

[unixken]

When I was first measured for a kilt, my tailor told me my size around the butt was 48", to which I replied "Thanks... now when someone calls me a fat-a$$, I'll know exactly how fat."

My kilts fit me well enough, and stay put well enough, that I've gone without a belt a few times, as with this pic of my 5yd casual-cut Aberdeen, worn at the p@nts waist.


So I know I don't need my belt to hold the kilt up. Likewise, I've seen photos of the type of pulling of the fabric that can occur when belt loops are continually stressed. As a consequence, I simply ignore the loops that are there, and don't even use them for the sporran strap.

[Piobair]

In 25 years or so in pipe bands in both the US and Scotland in every grade level (except grade III I think) I've never owned a kilt without belt loops - maybe a dozen + kilts including ones purchased for solos. I definitely think piping styles vary when compared to non-piper kilt wearers. For instance, were I to see a belt worn over the loops (or a sporran strap throug the loops with a belt worn over), I'd think newbie for sure. Not to say pipers set a particularly good standard - I think some of the more egregious highland wear errors have come out of the pipe band community (spats, epaulette covers, marching brogues, etc.). Interesting to see what's normal for kilt wearers from other traditions.

Whatever the answer - I have to think that loops are a relatively new addition, as the tradition in the 19th century appears to have been jacket and waistcoat with the kilt or some sort of belted jacket or doublet. Maybe when trends changed and sporran straps were added, it was before belt wearing was particularly wide spread. Then, as belts became more commonplace, the straps were lengthened to include both waist and sporran belts, as wearing a belt over a sporran strap can be a little uncomfortable.

Just as long as kilts don't cover the knee, I don't really have an opinion about belts, other then I guess I don't really like them, under loops or out of them.