About the size of the pleats, I just want to add that wide pleats don't neccesarily equalt to a "casual" looking kilt.

I don't know where the idea started, but remember that up until the middle of the ninteenth century, all kilts had only about 4 yards of cloth, and were usually pleated to stripe. This meant that sometimes you just had a few very wide pleats. We have one in the museum from c. 1800 that has exactly 6 box pleats in the back, about 2.5" wide each. I'm making one right now for a client that only has 6 box pleats in the back, because the sett of his tartan is 13.5".

Look at the picture on the main page of my kilt site. That's the MacQuarrie tartan from the Cockburn collection (c. 1815). It has an 11" sett, and when I made that one for myself I only got seven pleats out of it. No big deal.

Even with smaller setts I only get as much as a dozen (maybe fifteen at the most) box pleats. I know that ya'll here are talking about knife pleats, which is fine -- but with box pleats expecially you don't want pleats too small, because that doesn't give much depth to the pleat itself.

To be sure, fewer, wider pleats is a much different look than many narrow pleats. But I just wanted to put forth my opinion that it is unfair to say the former is a "casual" look only. If it is made well, there is no reason such a kilt could not be worn formally, with the proper accessories. As I have said before on this forum, a good kilt should be versitile -- wearable for both casual and formal occasions.

I've worn box pleated kilts with wide pleats to many a formal event and never raised an eyebrow. Got married in one, in fact!

Aye,
Matt