Basic kilt wearing questions:)

[WillowEstate]

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!

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