Sizing question

[steglitz]

Ahh, ok that makes sense. I felt my side again, and you're right, the place where I bent was indeed where I felt bone. So let me rephrase my question then. Regardless of what each kiltmaker asks for, where should a kilt sit? Is there a difference between an everyday kilt or a kilt as worn in the military or in a pipe band? I ask as I have one kilt where the kiltmaker used my navel to mark the top, and it sits lower than any of my band kilts.

[The Wizard of BC]

The problem comes from the fact that there is no universally accepted standard.

At the time the kilt was developed all men's trousers were worn at the anatomical waist.



And



Today, very few men wear their trousers this way. They are not even made this way anymore.

However, almost all of the iconic style kilts and almost all of the Off-The-Rack kilts are made to this older style.

Military kilts are made to a different style and more modern kilts a third or fourth style. You really need to know which style the person you are buying from uses.

The kilt is one of the very few garments where the wearer must conform or change their expectations to fit the garment instead of fitting the garment to the wishes of the wearer.

One thing that is a sort of standard though is the Fell length. The Fell area of a kilt is the part in the back where the pleats are tapered and sewn down.

It is almost universally accepted that a kilt design determines how long the Fell will be.
Wearing a kilt designed to be worn high and if worn at other than where it was designed to be worn may result in the Fell being the wrong length.

To determine if you are wearing the garment at where it was designed to be worn, is to reach behind and find the bottom of the fell by sliding your finger up the pleats and finding where the bottom of the stitching is.

It is almost universally accepted that the bottom of the Fell area will look and hang and swish best, if it is at, or right about, the crest of the hips and buttocks.
A Fell that is being worn too low will develop the shower curtain folds in the back that is so often seen at highland games.
(This will also cause undue stress on the pleat stitching when sitting and the stitching may fail as you see below)



A fell that is being worn higher than it was designed will show the pleats splaying outward.



The Fell worn where it was designed to be worn will show the pleats hanging straight and vertical without the shower curtain folds.



So, the answer to your question is - Find a maker who makes a kilt designed to be worn where you want the waist to be, and wear it where it was designed to be worn.

[steglitz]

Thank you for all of that. Really interesting to see all of those pictures with explanations as to what's actually not working well. The kilts I have all sit nicely; it was just a matter of length. I actually prefer the kilts that sit a little higher at the anatomical waist. That also seems to jive with what I'm seeing in the pipe bands here so I'll go with that and wear it with pride.

[lschwartz]

Thank you for all of that. Really interesting to see all of those pictures with explanations as to what's actually not working well. The kilts I have all sit nicely; it was just a matter of length. I actually prefer the kilts that sit a little higher at the anatomical waist. That also seems to jive with what I'm seeing in the pipe bands here so I'll go with that and wear it with pride.

Regardless of what someone else wears, or where you measure from, the key is to measure your own body and use that measurement. Some people are the same length from their waist up and the waist down. Others have longer legs than torsos. Others have longer torsos than legs. So, a dozen people who are the same height as you could all have different length measurements for their kilts. So, measure your body and use that number.

[The Wizard of BC]

Just one comment about using the navel when measuring for a kilt. The navel is on soft tissue and moves. One guy will have his navel in a totally different place than another.

And there is the myth of kneeling on the ground to measure. This is actually an old kiltmaker trick.

The kilt if made in the manner of what many call 'traditional' it is tapered from the width of the hips into the width of the anatomical waist.
Above the waist the kilt will have what is called 'rise'. This is a flaring of the garment of between 2 and 4 inches that goes up, over the short ribs.

Notice please that the smallest part of this kilt is equal to the top strap and buckle. The part above the buckle is the Rise. (The Drop is the length from the buckle down to the bottom)



If you kneel and find the length from the anatomical waist, (which is really easy and quick to find) and the floor - and if you use that as the total length of the kilt - but then locate the straps and buckles 2 inches lower - when the kilt is put on, the bottom will not hit the floor anymore but be up, above the floor by that 2" of Rise.

Where you wear your kilt is personal preference. There are three places on the human body where a waistband will naturally sit without moving up or down.

We call these "Full", "Mid" and "Low" Waist Height.



When worn down at the level of the navel we usually call this Mid Waist Height although it is perhaps the most common waist height today.

If you want odd looking to today's eyes, a military kilt can be worn very very high. The fabric was a set width so the top was adjusted higher or lower to have the bottom at the knee so everyone was uniform.



Now, here is the cool part. The distance from the hips and buttocks, down to the knee, can't change. There is a bone in the leg.
So if you change where you wear the waist the only change to the kilt happens from the hips up. This is the Fell area of the kilt. And this is why a kilt must be worn where it was designed to be worn.

[Karl R]

I actually prefer the kilts that sit a little higher at the anatomical waist.

I'm 5'11 1/2". My first purchase from USA Kilts was 24". I like my kilts to sit at the anatomical waist. However, once I start dancing, they tend to migrate down slightly. Therefore, for my second USA Kilts purchase, I got a 23.5" kilt. That works much better (for me) when I'm highly active.

Given that you're noticeably taller than me, and you like to wear your kilts a little higher than I do, I think 24" would probably be a minimum (unless your thighs are shorter than mine).