How to wrap the great kilt?

[David in Maryland]

I actually have two great kilts along with my little kilts. One is just a basic checkered plaid that I wear only to re-enactment and SCA events, little to no evidence of clan tartans before sometime in 1700's (see www.albanach.org for more info). The other great kilt is my clan tartan, MacLeod of Harris, in the Ancient dye. I wear this great kilt quite often, and when the oppurtunity arises for me to wear my Sherrifmuir jacket, you can bet that I wear my MacLeod great kilt with it.

David Pugh

[Woodsheal]

The great kilt comes into its own as a near-perfect garment for outdoor activities - hunting, hiking, camping - just as it did originally. You can roll up in it to sleep, use it as a cape and hood when the weather turns crappy, flip a corner of it over your gun to keep the rain off, use it as camouflage, etc., etc. I've "lived" in mine for a weekend "in the field" numerous times, and it becomes a part of you....
That's not to say that it's limited to such usage! A formal get-up with the full belted plaid is quite impressive!!

[Dreadbelly]

I saw these pics in a book... Old black and white pictures, of these three men in great kilts. Two from the front, one from behind. The one from behind, you could clearly see his great kilt was box pleated. And the tartan lined up all to well for it to be randomly bunched up. I am not sure if it was sewn or what, but it was an amazing picture to look at. There was six perfectly formed box pleats.

Looking at the photo, it gave me ideas on a modernized great kilt... No stitching. Well, some stitching... But only to attatch something like a thin strip of velcro along a pre-set line. That way you could sort of fold your kilt over the right ways and box pleat it to a pattern, but still pop it apart if you needed it as a cover or something, as well as some handy means of instant snaps to throw it over the shoulder, wrap it as a cloak, etc. I dunno if I can explain it any better.

You could even make it out of a camo material and use metal or plastic snaps instead of velcro to hold the box pleats to the proper fit. Would make a practical hunting garmet.

[Magnus Sporrano]

I've got some overriding financial conflicts right now preventing me from buying 7(+) yards of homespun wool right now. But I stopped by the fabric store just to see what they might have in a 54(+)" wide tartan. Sadly they couldn't do anything for me in tartan. The best they had was some Pakistani cotton tartan for $2 a yard on clearance.

On the way out I found some Mossy Oak fabric... it was plenty wide enough! And at just under $10 a yard, it's not going to break the bank. But I thought the better of it. The first time I try this, I want to do tartan. Maybe I'll get creative with number two if I like wearing number 1 enough.

[Celticman]

Well, I got my seven yards of tartan and began experimenting with the different methods of wrapping the great kilt...and, to my surprise I found that, at 6'4" and 250 lbs, 7 yards of fabric is just too damn much! So, after careful consideration I took my new tartan fabric to a seamstress and had 76" cut off the end and had a 3' x 5' clan banner made. I have since wrapped myself in a truly great looking great kilt. I now have a bit of leftover tartan that I will find some use for...but, I now have a great looking kilt and a banner to boot! 8-)

Now...what to do with the 4' x 8" leftover piece...hmmm.

[Celticman]

One small correction to my previous statement...once I really learn to wrap the great kilt it will look fantastic! Until that time it just looks great!

[HeathBar]

Celticman,

You will enjoy wearing the great kilt at Grandfather Mtn. I wore mine the times I was there. It keeps you warm at night. And can protect you from the rain. Until I got my Stillwater, the great kilt was all I had. I have 6yds of Barclay Hunting tartan. I'm a wee bit larger than you and its plenty for me. A bit of advice. Take a long tarp with you just for doing the "highland burrito". Otherwise, you'll end up with leaves and twigs all caught up in the pleats. Also take a long rope to hang it out at night. It gets pretty funky after a couple of days.
As for those who think the great kilt should be brought back as everyday wear, I would have to disagree. Its bulk on the upper part would become quite a nuisence while doing day to day tasks. That was what brought about the little kilt. Not to mention the weight. My 6yd great kilt has as much material as a 1 and a half little kilts. That being said...it does make an impressive formal outfit with correct attire.
Thats my two cents worth.

[Magnus Sporrano]

Celticman, mind if I ask what is your waist size? (i.e. around the navel, not under the gut) I'm heavier than you, and not as tall, so I'm trying to gauge how long a piece of tartan I'm going to get.

[Celticman]

Celticman, mind if I ask what is your waist size? (i.e. around the navel, not under the gut) I'm heavier than you, and not as tall, so I'm trying to gauge how long a piece of tartan I'm going to get.

Magnus, I am 45" around the beer-belly. My 12oz Diet has not been working so I have recently switched to the Single-malt Diet; I hope it will be more successful.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I haven't checked the board for a couple of days so I'm coming to this conversation late.

So, to hit on multiple points:

If you want good instructions -- with pictures -- for one way to don the belted plaid, there is a chapter that does just that in my Early Highland Dress.

There are also a lot of good web sites out there. And a lot of bad web sites on this topic. So beware. I have a list of sites I have found (not all of them on how to put on the belted plaid, per se, but all dealing with historic Scottish dress), with ratings and comments, here:
http://albanach.org/review.html

On how much cloth you would need -- seven is way too much. Historically, the belted plaid was on average 4 yards long. So I usually say 4 to 5, and the only reason I'd go to 5 is just in case you wanted a bit more than the normal 4 -- it's always easier to cut off the extra cloth than to sew a peice on.

I always get people saying, "well, I'm a large guy, I may need 9 yards for me!" Think about it. Four yards is 12 feet. Are you that big around? I doubt it (as least I hope not!). Remember that this is not a modern pleated kilt and is not meant to look like one. There doesn't have to be many pleats, nor do they have to be very deep. All you want to do is to pleat it enough to reduce those 4 yards to something managable to wrap around your waist.

Regarding sewing in the pleats. I have heard that there is some evidence for this being done in the military towards the end of the eighteenth century. But prior to that, there would have been no tailoring at all of the great kilt. One primary reason was that this garment also served as a blanket, and once you sew in the pleats, it loses that functionality. That being said, if you don't intend to use this for any purpose other than wearing it, and don't plan on doing any public demonstrations on how it was put on, then you may certainly feel free to "cheat" a bit and sew the pleats in.

How I would do this would be to sew down the pleats no further than 2". All the stitching would be hidden under your belt. By all means do not press the pleats down! You can knife pleat, box pleat, no matter -- when you put it on and wear it, no one should be able to tell the pleats are sewn in place.

About pictures of people wearing the kilt, where the pleating looks sewn in and regular. Well I'd have to look at the pictures. As I said, in the late eighteenth century, this might have been done. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that you are most likely looking at the famous set of portraits painted by Robert McIan in the 1840s. Keep in mind two things -- this is well after the great kilt ceased being worn with any regularity, and MacIan had some fanciful ideas about earlier forms of Highland Dress based more in romanticism than historical research. So, neat pictures to look at, but not for historic study.

Lastly, on wearing the belted plaid modernly for daily wear. I have two comments. First, the belted plaid is an item of historical clothing. The tailored kilt, while certainly not a common form of dress, is a modern garment. The belted plaid is not. So one has two options -- wear it with historically accurate accessories in which case you are going to look like a reenactor of historical interpreter; or wear it with modern accessories, in which case you are going to look a bit like someone who is wearing a Revolutionary War era doublet with his blue jeans, Nikes, and ball cap. Something will just seem out of place. So I'm not saying don't wear it, I'm just saying if you want to wear it as a part of your work-a-day wardrobe, these are the issues you will face.

My other comment on this has to do with practicality. Years ago, when I was first working at the Scottish Tartans Museum, I went through a period when I wore seventeenth century dress to the museum all the time. The visitors loved it, of course. But I learned one important lesson about the great kilt. While it is a wonderfully comfortable and functional garment for someone spending a lot of time outdoors, it is incredibly cumbersome and inconvienient for anyone doing a lot of close-in, indoor work. Which is why I think the modern kilt is infinitely more compatible with most of our current lifstyles (and incidentally, change in the Highland way of life may very well have contributed to the popularity of the small kilt).

Just my thoughts!
Matt