Basic kilt wearing questions:)

**Father Bill** · 12th February 14, 07:47 AM

A sporran can easily be worn a little too high to cut down on thumping and banging about, and if it's on a strap, most sporrans can easily be slid to one hip for comfort & for slow dancing with your favourite girl.

GG · 12th February 14, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Father Bill

...and if it's on a strap, most sporrans can easily be slid to one hip for comfort...

That's what I prefer to do. And it works with a strap.

**Tobus** · 12th February 14, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by sailortats

I do not like wearing a sporran strap (belt). Maybe it is the way I am built but if I wear a strap I find that the bottom of my sporran is pushed into the kilt apron leaving an unsightly depression in the lay of the apron. The result is that I look like I am wearing a very baggy pair of shorts. It is also somewhat uncomfortable.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to understand how this is an issue with a sporran strap but not with a sporran chain? If your sporran tends to want to do this, regardless of whether the sporran is worn with a leather strap or chain, the bottom of the sporran is still going to do that, isn't it?

**Randy McIntosh** · 12th February 14, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by Father Bill

most sporrans can easily be slid to one hip for comfort & for slow dancing with your favourite girl.

This is a must....you always move your sporran to the side when dancing with a lady.

**Savage** · 12th February 14, 04:50 PM

Fellas!! So much good advise...Rocky, is my kilt done yet?? LOL!! You guys rock. I truly appreciate the wisdom you guys are sharing. Much appreciated...

Mark

**sailortats** · 12th February 14, 05:20 PM

Tobus, no, with the chain my sporrans hang nearly vertical but with the belt they push in at the bottom quite a bit more. On my sporrans at least, the D rings for the chain are slightly higher on the sporran than is the opening through which I would put the belt. This is what seems to make the difference in how they hang as well as the fact that the belt is not perfectly vertical when put through the sporran but tends to sag a little.

I have rewritten this several times for the sake of clarity. I hope I am making myself clear.

**cable scot** · 12th February 14, 08:52 PM

The only thing I would say is when it comes to sporrans, by the best you can possably get. Take some time and save up for it, but don't just buy one to "get buy". If I were only to have one sporran for all occasions I would get a black soft body hunting sporran, or a pirced brass cantle with a dark brown body from Artificer. Either would look fine for dress or day wear and would also stand out as a cut above the rest. BUT they are not cheap, well worth the price, but not cheap at all. Your sporran is a focal point of your outfit and a good place to spend the better part of your budget. No one asks about your socks or your flashes, hardly ever about your sigan dubh. But people often ask about your sporran, even other kilties.

**Sturdy** · 13th February 14, 03:45 PM

Rocky, you're short clips are great, and funny too!

**WillowEstate** · 15th February 14, 07:18 AM

Hi Mark,
a bit late to the party but for what it's worth, here's my take. I take a different line from what may be the general view but then kilt wearing makes us all rather individual, don't you think? I respect the other views but some just don't seem to work for me!

Originally Posted by Savage

1) What is the proper way to sit down? A personal question yes, but an honest one. On the same subject, how do you not mess up the pleats when you sit down?

Certainly, "sweeping the pleats" is the only way to avoid an unholy mess but I'm definitely in the two handed camp. Maybe that's because I'm the "economy size" (32" waist) or because my ex-military kilt is extremely heavy with deep pleats (MacKenzie Seaforth, possibly as much as 22 ounce!) or else I'm just inept! I also have no real problem after sitting, if the knees splay a little, the inner apron drops down to cover essentials - again, maybe the weight of the kilt or that it doesn't have the left buckle. Others mileage certainly does vary on this.

On a related topic, I've never found a satisfactory way to get into my car in "pants mode", i.e. one foot, sit, swing other foot in - I just end up sitting on a heap of tartan. What works for me is open the door wide, sweep the pleats and sit sideways, then swing both legs round together. Similar technique to the ladies with short skirts. Works better on leather seats, I admit!

2) If you only had one kind of sporran, what would it be?

I don't do a lot of formal, even to the extent of Australian formal! So my first choice is a plain leather day sporran. I would caution, however, to make sure there are no hard cut edges or rough makers marks on the back, they will rough up your kilt, especially PV. Following excellent advice from this forum, I solved these problems with my sporran, though it was slow going!

I also have an ex-MOD brass cantle sporran but I find it a bit heavy for regular wear.

3) Sporran belt, hangers, chains? Does it depend on the sporran or are they universal?

Personal preference. If you get a strap, make sure it has rounded inner edges along its length (same issue as hard cut edges on the sporran). I prefer a chain and that is my usual choice for both sporrans. But when choosing, mail order is NOT your friend, you need to check the whole length of the chains to ensure that there are no burrs or rough edges anywhere along it. And make sure the clips face the sporran and not the kilt.

Mark