Box and Knife.. Pleats that is

[Freelander Sporrano]

Box pleating is the older form, and no it is not just for military use.

In brief:

When the kilts were first tailored (in the last decade of the eighteenth century), they were box pleated from about 4 yards of cloth. The box peats were relatively wide and were "true" boxes -- that is, no or litte overlap of the cloth on the inside. Military and civilian kilts were pleated this way, military kilts to stripe and civilian kilts to no pattern. By 1820 or so, civilian kilts were also pleated to the stripe.

The first regiment to go to knife pleating was the Gordons, in 1854 (I think that date is correct, it was in the 1850s). By this time the yardage used in the kilt had started to increase (though not to today's 8 yards, probably closer to 5 or 6). With the exess cloth, the box pleated kitls also started to go with narrower pleats, meaning one side of the "box" was much deeper than the other.

By the time you get to the end of the nineteenth century, you have the kilt as we have it today -- about 8 yards of cloth, with knife pleating being the norm. Pleating to the sett was just starting to become the fashion.

Of course, when you get into the twentieth century, pleating to sett would become the norm, though pleating to stripe is still relatively common. The traditional four-yard box pleated kilts pretty much died out until kilt maker and kitl historian Bob Martin revived them in 1983. Since then a few other kilt makers (such as myself) have taken up making them, but they still are not nearly as common as the eight-yard knife pleated kilt we all know and love.

Aye,
Matt

Thanks Matt great answer

So from a kiltmakers POV what is the easier to make box or knife ?

[Bob C]

I couldn't wear a box-pleated kilt. It would look too much like my daughter's cheerleader skirt.

No offense, box-pleat guys.

[Hamish]

I couldn't wear a box-pleated kilt. It would look too much like my daughter's cheerleader skirt.

No offense, box-pleat guys.

I like the look of them, Bob, but they don't have the wonderful 'swing factor' of a knife-pleated, heavy 8 yarder!

In fact, I still have to make up my mind about a tartan for the one I'll be asking Matt to make! The one he made for me in grey Harris tweed, is great as an historical representation, and I am thrilled to have it in my 'Kollection', but I find it somewhat difficult to wear out and about in this modern age because it DOES look sk--ty to the uninitiated!! No offense, Matt. I WILL make a decision soon.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Which is easier... depends. Assuming you are talking about two kilts of eaqual yardages, then it would be knife pleating. The reason is because to make a box pleat, you first have to make a knife pleat -- the "boxing" of it is another step.

However, when you factor in that most box pleated kilts are four yard, and most knife pleated kilts are eight yard, then I'd have to say a box pleated kilt is easier to make, because you are talking about far less pleats in toto.

Aye,
Matt

(take your time, Hamish)!

[RockyR]

Which is easier... depends. Assuming you are talking about two kilts of eaqual yardages, then it would be knife pleating. The reason is because to make a box pleat, you first have to make a knife pleat -- the "boxing" of it is another step.

However, when you factor in that most box pleated kilts are four yard, and most knife pleated kilts are eight yard, then I'd have to say a box pleated kilt is easier to make, because you are talking about far less pleats in toto.

Aye,
Matt

I agree with Matt... depends.

As he pointed out, box pleating uses less fabric and has bigger (and therefore fewer) pleats. However, IRONING this type of kilt is a bit trickier and making a 4 yard box pleated kilt look GOOD is VERY difficult. My hats off to you, Matt. If you hate to iron and are not VERY patient, BOX PLEATING is harder.

The other thing not taken into acct. on 4 yard knife pleated "casual wool kilts" is that the kiltmaker often has to "make up" a pattern to pleat the kilt to that looks GOOD (because you don't have as much material to work with and often times can not pleat to the true sett). I've found this tricky on a few 4 yard wools I've done.

8 yard wool kilts have MANY more pleats, but are easier to iron. If it's hard for you to match the horizontal lines of the tartan while sewing and the thought of sewing 30 to 35 pleats (vs. 15 to 20 of a box pleated kilt) gets your stomach in a knot, then TRADITIONAL 8 YARDERS are harder.

As Matt said... it depends on what you like to do vs. HATE to do while making a kilt.

[herminator]

I have just made a box pleated kilt of the same material I made a knife pleated some months ago. I say making a box pleat is more difficult, as you have to plaet in two directions AND they have to meet exactly. You always are switching direction, as opposed to knife pleats where you always work in one direction! But I think it looks great and in our warm weather now it is very light to wear!

see here

[Hamish]

Thanks Matt great answer

So from a kiltmakers POV what is the easier to make box or knife ?

I stand ready to be corrected, David, but I'd say the answer is "knife". I've talked about this with several commercial traditional Scottish kiltmakers and, as one, they are agreed that box-pleating is too time consuming to be offered to their clients. In my book, time-consuming = difficult!

Do our in-house kiltmakers agree?