I'll stick my two cents worth in here too.
I own only one traditional kilt. It is a 16 oz. 9 yarder in the US Marine Corps Tartan. The wool is from Scotland and the maker was Scotish trained. This was part of my uniform and is used only on special occations.
I love the feel and weight of it. That swish of the pleats is unmistakable. I do feel like I'm wearing a tuxedo though. This is my full dress kilt. And I love wearing it. BUT
I can't wear it with boots or street shoes. I can't wear it with a t-shirt hiking, And heaven forbid I get it muddy.
That's why I make kilts today. I wanted that feel. I spent a lot of time getting the swish as close on my casual kilts and I could, given I wanted to be able to throw it in the washer. I also didn't want my kilts to cost $1000.00.
To make a Freedom Kilt I use a standard 2" exposed pleat. My size is adjusted by adding and subtracting pleats. For example, the CADPAT kilt I'm currently working on is for a guy with a 41" waist. That's 18 pleats and 7.21 yards or 6.59 meters of material.
This thing has swish. Even made in a stiff poly/cotton twill. it's all machine stitched with a lot of top-stitching, but that's more for the casual look and to save time than for anything else.
I just weighed it and it comes in at 2.1 lbs.
OK, it's not my beloved tartan. But what else is?