Kilt belt loops?

[Tobus]

I'm open to having my mind changed about this, but I can say that I've been told this many, many times, so if you choose to put your kilt belt through the loops there are many out there who will think you've made a sartorial error like buttoning the bottom button on your waistcoat etc...

Sartorial error? Not at all. This is something that irks me. Especially with the bottom button on waistcoats. It is not improper to close the bottom button. Leaving it undone was a fashion trend at one time which has developed into a tradition, but it has never been a universal rule. If someone has told you that it is a sartorial error to button the bottom button on a waistcoat, they do not know what they are talking about.

There are various theories about how this fashion trend started, but it is quite clear that it has always been just a fashion statement. There are perhaps some utilitarian reasons for leaving it undone if you ride a horse or do a lot of sitting, especially if the waistcoat interferes with your sporran, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with buttoning it. If someone is going to smirk or silently chuckle at someone for buttoning the bottom of their waistcoat, they really need a good smack upside the head.

That said, I tend to do it both ways. As you can see below, this waistcoat has a pretty low drop in front, and it's just easier to leave it unbuttoned so it doesn't run afoul of my sporran. But if it were higher up, I'd probably button it. And when I'm wearing a 3-piece suit, I usually button it

[Nathan]

Sartorial error? Not at all. This is something that irks me. Especially with the bottom button on waistcoats. It is not improper to close the bottom button. Leaving it undone was a fashion trend at one time which has developed into a tradition, but it has never been a universal rule. If someone has told you that it is a sartorial error to button the bottom button on a waistcoat, they do not know what they are talking about.

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?!

;)

[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.

[Elf]

Now that is an interesting perspective Nathan, I would think that wearing a belt on the outside of the belt loops would be more indicative of someone who didn't know what they were doing. We wouldn't do that with a pair of trousers would we? If I were to see someone wearing their belt on top of their belt loops I would assume 1. They were drunk when they got dressed or 2. Were from a culture not familiar with belt loops and their intended use Funny thing perspective.

Well, I do wear the belt on the outside of the loops with tr@^#ers when I use it for the origianal purpose: holding my knife, rather than to hold up the garment. It aids in quick changes.

However to really start the fireworks going: We go round and round about the two little loops at the back of the kilt. If one really needs (or fears they need) the belt to keep the kilt up, then should we put belt loops all the way around like a utility kilt? I may have jumped the unfathomable chasm here. As of yet, I only use the two loops for sporran strap even though I feel the proportions of the kilt need curtailment by the belt for my body shape when without waistcoat. (time to duck and cover!)

[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.