Vest length question

[Troglodyte]

The modern fashion for wearing the kilt slung low on the hips is causing a great deal of confusion and frustration - for both the maker and the wearer of traditonal Highland dress.

The waistcoat should be exactly that - a waist-length garment that meets the lower garment at the waist, leaving no gap. It is not a hip-coat..!

As trousers have, in the past 40 years or so, been worn (and so cut by fashion designers) steadily lower down to the hips, the waistcoat has been obliged to get longer to compensate. This has been carried over into Highland dress.

We are now at the gastly stage where the waistcoat is now as long as the jacket when offered as a combo' by Highland dress outfitters.

It sounds as if you have had the good sense to produce and nurture your own home-grown tailor, so, If I were in your position, this is what I would do.

Having put on my kilt as I normally wear it, with sporran in place, I would put on a waistcoat and position it (pull it up on the shoulders) so that the points are well clear of the sporran and strap, and get my tame tailor to take the relevant measurements.

The alternative, of course, is a wiastcoat cut flat across the bottom edge - this leaves plenty of room for the sporran (and is no doubt more convenient if you use sporran-hangers) - and is a style favoured by both the late Duke of Edinburgh and the new King.