gut bigger than hips.

[Llama]

Just do whatever is comfortable and looks decent. If you're not used to wearing things above your belly, it will never be comfortable for you.

A lot of the "rules" don't work for many people because people are shaped different ways. If you have longer legs and a shorter torso, a high kilt will look ridiculous on you. Same for the reverse. It's all about proportions and figuring out what works best for you.

I wear mine above the navel, but that's only slightly higher than I wear my pants.

[flintstone]

You may be fat but definitely a great hunter. That is a real fox with you.

[David Thorpe]

Just do whatever is comfortable and looks decent.

It is quite evident that those two factors are in some cases mutually exclusive.

[SorenMacTavish]

To the Kilted world

I am 5 foot 9 inches Tall and I weigh 240 pounds. My “natural waist” is 52 inches around and at the hips I am 42 inches.
By most standards I am over weight. I lost it 50 pounds back in the 90’s but gained most of it back.
When it comes to the subject of wearing kilts at waist or hips I become somewhat defensive. There are standards set by tradition and proclaimed by slim people that just do not measure up when it comes to some of us larger people. My true waist, all 52 inches of it is mostly FAT. I know what is I live with it every day. I have tried to wear a kilt up at the navel. For me personally this is practically Impossible. If I take a deep breath my stomach contracts to around 48 inches and the kilt falls OFF. My waist especially on the sides is very tender. I can NOT wear a belt tight enough to hold up a kilt the tissue is soft and sensitive. It hurts to wear a belt at that part of my waist. Therefore If I am going to wear a kilt I have to wear it down at my hips. I will never look as good as some people but I’m OK with that. I love wearing my kilts and wear them almost EVERY day. I wear kilts not to conform to anyone’s Standards, I wear Kilts to be different. I stand out in a crowd with or without a kilt. The kilt just makes it more fun. So I say wear your kilt how YOU like it NOT how anyone else thinks you should.
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I have the same views you do. While yes, the traditional fit and wear does look dapper, there are those of us for whom a traditional fit just can't work or can not apply to. The wondrous thing about a kilt is the comfort, therefore, if I may say so, as long as the kilt is comfortable that is all the really matters on the individual level. You wear it for YOU, therefore it should be comfortable for YOU.

No disrespect to differing opinions, lets just remember that comfort is an individual thing, and what works for one is exactly that: what works for ONE.

So, to the OP, wear it where it is most comfortable to you.

-Soren

[SorenMacTavish]

Some kilt makers offer the (sorry guys) "gut cut" which shapes the waistband specifically to create a straight hemline. Where there's a will. . .

EXACTLY!!! So, given the "gut cut", it is possible to be both comfortable as well as have body shape/size accommodated in a still flattering visage.

[O'Searcaigh]

My waist is only VERY slightly smaller than my hips -- which makes it very easy for me to make home made kilts because the "pleat" calculation "adjustments" are very easy - basically straight pleats -- and the length is easy to adjust too simply by how high or low I decide to wear the kilt which I do for comfort more than "looks." It seems to me that different people look better dressed differently depending not only on issues of "physique" but other factors as well. Since letting my hair and beard grow out (a la "Santa Claus" or a "hermit" depending on your point of view), I think I look down-right silly in my old business suits, but quite appropriate in a caftan or kilt (depending on other accouterments). Some people look great in bikinis, others, not so much. Some look better with high waisted garments (some women can wear an Empire dress, others, not so much) ... and some people look best with their kilt high and some low. And finally, I wear a kilt mostly for comfort. Start telling me I have to wear it in a way that is uncomfortable and I would have to stop wearing it!!!

[Nathan]

I am a lean built man but I don't have a whole lot in the **** department. I also have a small gut which makes my waist and hips almost the same size and so the kilt tends to slip down on me regardless of how tight I make it. When I wear the kilt at my natural waist I find tucking in a shirt looks very odd. That's why I wear waistcoats so frequently, the bottom of the waistcoat ends close to where my pants usually come up and projects a more natural looking break between my torso and legs. If I wear a tshirt with my kilt, I have to leave it untucked for the same reason. With the straps tightly at my natural waist and the 2" rise above that leaves the top of my kilt 2" below my nipples so I feel like Steve Urkel with a tucked in shirt and no waistcoat.

For this reason, I'm considering having a kilt made with the top at the jeans waist so I can tuck things in and not have the selvedge too low.

That said, nothing looks worse to my eyes than the bottom of your shirt being visible below your waistcoat. For this reason there will always be a place for high waisted/traditional kilts in my wardrobe. For smart or formal wear they are really the only way to go.

[Dale Seago]

A lot of the "rules" don't work for many people because people are shaped different ways. If you have longer legs and a shorter torso, a high kilt will look ridiculous on you. Same for the reverse. It's all about proportions and figuring out what works best for you.

And this is why it's best to get something made for YOU by a good kiltmaker, not something off-the-rack.

I can do off the rack; but that's because when clothing designers came up with the the concept of a generic "size Medium" for off the rack garments, I'm the guy they were thinking of.

"Overall" proportions need to be considered. My own true waist is about an inch above my navel, and my kilts have a fairly low rise. coming up about an inch above that. I think that proportionally, for ME, it looks good:





I find that this is also high enough -- for me -- not to leave any shirt showing when I wear a waistcoat:

[Starhunter451]

Thank you all for your input. One thing we all agree on is, we all love our kilts.

[Pipersson]

There is comfort in there IS still a waist though it's invisible...
I wear mine a bit over the navel niveau and it's fine like that.