To the stripe or set?

[Jock Scot]

Interestingly most civilian kilts will usually be pleated to the sett unless a specific request to do otherwise is made to the traditional Scottish kilt maker. To be fair, I am not sure if modern kilt makers in Scotland still follow this trend, but when I asked one very traditional and successful kilt maker a couple of years ago about civilian pleating to the stripe the reply was, well ,errr, ummmm-------unprintable.

[OC Richard]

It would be interesting to find out from the experts when pleating to the sett became popular.

There's a distinct disadvantage to a kilt 1) being pleated to the sett and 2) having belt loops: if you move the straps & buckles to make the kilt smaller or larger the entire rear of the kilt is now off-centre.

While a kilt pleated to the stripe and lacking loops will look the same when re-sized.

This is important in the Pipe Band world where a band's set of kilts might be worn for a half-century and each kilt might have to be re-sized numerous times.

No worries if it's your personal kilt and you stay the same size. My weight has changed considerably over the years and my kilts have been repeatedly adjusted (by myself).

Now the OP's question was specifically about the XMarks tartan which is an ordinary symmetrical repeating sett and offers multiple good places to pleat to the stripe.

I recently got a Hunting Stewart kilt which presents challenges for the pleater.

I very much dislike having the pleats alternate between the yellow and red stripes, and I told USA kilts they could do anything but that!

I really like what they did do, as it creates a nice balance between the brown and grey areas. The only issue with alternating pleats is that it makes the kilt, at first glance, appear to have half as many pleats as it does.

[figheadair]

It would be interesting to find out from the experts when pleating to the sett became popular.

Bob Martin always recokoned that pleating to sett came in at the end of the 19th or early 20th century. I've certainly never seen an older kilt pleated to sett. Bob also said that pleating to sett often needs more material and resulted in the standard 8 yard kilt.

[Jock Scot]

I would say the same Peter and probably based on information from the same source.

[jhockin]

Bob Martin always recokoned that pleating to sett came in at the end of the 19th or early 20th century. I've certainly never seen an older kilt pleated to sett. Bob also said that pleating to sett often needs more material and resulted in the standard 8 yard kilt.

Those wily weavers found a way to sell more of their products 😉

[figheadair]

Those wily weavers found a way to sell more of their products 😉

Or more likely, those wily kilt makers.

[OC Richard]

With kilt yardage, when I got into kiltwearing (1975) people seemed to regard the 8-yard kilt as standard.

There were two local kiltmakers here, and places in Scotland one could order kilts from, and it all seemed to be about 8 yard kilts.

In 2006 I joined a new Pipe Band and the kilt they issued me was exceptionally comfortable. I could tell it was heavyweight cloth yet the kilt was lighter, so I measured the yardage and it was between 6 and 7 yards.

So when I ordered my next two kilts I had them made that way.

A few years ago I started collecting vintage Highland Dress catalogues, mostly from the 1930s, and to my surprise I discovered that kilts in various yardages were offered by the firms that mentioned yardage. (Around half the catalogues make no mention.)

So perhaps the largest Highland Dress maker of the period, RG Lawrie Glasgow, offers gentlemen's kilts in 6, 7, and 8 yards in 1936.

Interestingly the c1955 Anderson's catalogue offers kilts in "7, 8, or more yards".

[figheadair]

Interestingly the c1955 Anderson's catalogue offers kilts in "7, 8, or more yards".

In a lighter weight perhaps?