Boxpleated kilts

[Muddy]

Got a question for you all and especially Matt Newsome if he's
lurking aboot...........
Anyone have any experience with box pleated kilts?
Specifically, do they "swish" properly like a regularly pleated
kilt? It seems to me that the box pleats might make them hang
stiffer and not "swish" as much. I've got some material (very heavy
weight black watch) that I'm considering letting Matt get ahold of and
make me a kilt.
Cheers,
Muddy
(Russ)

[herminator]

Go for it! box-pleated rules!
I´m making my next two kilts both box-pleated, needs less material, making them less hot in summer, swish and hang is simply wonderful!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

If you are looking for the "swish" that you get from an 8 yard, knife pleated, heavy weight wool kilt on parade, then you need to get an 8 yard, knife pleated, heavy weight wool and parade around in it! :-)

Seriously, a four-yard box pleated kilt does not have quite the same "swish factor" as an eight yard kilt, simply because you don't have all that weight in the back to swing back and forth.

In the average 8 yard kilt, you might have something less than two yards total in the front aprons, and the remaining 6 plus yards pleated in the back. This is where your swish comes from.

In the average 4 yard kilt, you have about as much cloth in the front as in the back of the kilt, making it a more balanced garment, and more comfortable to wear overall. But yes, you do lose some of that swish.

Aye,
Matt

[Muddy]

Thanks for the reply Matt, had a feeling you would be around ;)
Do you also do Kingussie kilts? ... and, if so, how much yardage
would be need for that?
Cheers,
Muddy
(Russ)

[M. A. C. Newsome]

All that's required for a Kinguisse is the same as is required for a box pleat -- about 4 yards of single width cloth.

M

[Muddy]

Well I've got about 5 yards in the heavy heavyweight black watch
(when cut and spliced inside a pleat) and just over 7 yards in a royal
stewart medium weight (same deal)....
Found both pieces of cloth at Goodwill for about 5 bucks or so...yeah!!
Was thinking the kingussie method might swish more due to the orthodox
pleating going both ways from the box pleat.
When I get my finances in order I'm thinking of giving your kilt making
skills a try on one or both pieces of cloth Matt......
and Herminator, thanks for your response as well.
Cheers,
Muddy

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Muddy,

I'll be glad to make either a box pleat or kinguisse style kilt for you -- or a 5-yd knife pleated kilt for that matter. But I don't think it would make that much of a difference either way in terms of "swish."

What gives an 8 yard kilt such a swish is the weight of all that cloth in the back, not necessarily a particular style of pleating.

Aye,
Matt

[UmAnOnion]

I am fairly certain that i am not the only one reading this thread wondering what the %(*& is a 'kinguisse' styled kilt...

Sometimes Google is a wonderful thing.... Click here for details.

Okay, thats my good deed for the day - can i go back to bed now???

[pdcorlis]

One more photo link...

http://www.cuillinn.com/repro.html

[Pleater]

Well I've got about 5 yards in the heavy heavyweight black watch
(when cut and spliced inside a pleat) and just over 7 yards in a royal
stewart medium weight (same deal)....
Found both pieces of cloth at Goodwill for about 5 bucks or so...yeah!!
Was thinking the kingussie method might swish more due to the orthodox
pleating going both ways from the box pleat.
Muddy

I think, from my short but experimental experience in kilt making, that the Kinguisse method swishes more than the knife pleated - you have a sort of concertina effect with open pleats on both sides so the centre back is free - not only to swish though - it will fly more easily too.

If you have the shorter length of heavier fabric made up in the kinguisse method then you'll probably be OK - and it is the more logical one to chose anyway.

From experiments using the shadows cast by street lamps I think that a knife pleated kilt will always tend to move further to the right than the left on a clockwise pleated kilt - the normal way for kilts to be made. That is because the pleats are opening as they move to the right, but when moving to the left they are closing up and having to lift the pleat in front so they are physically restrained.

I have made a reverse Kinguisse kilt - with all the pleats running to the back and an inverted box pleat, and a fairly deep under apon pleat each side, and find that it is great for moving through the rather wild back garden here. The backward facing pleats do not get snagged so easily as in a normal Kinguisse or a standard knife pleated kilt.

I had noticed that I was getting caught by the forward facing pleats on the right side of the kilt far more frequently than on the left side, and so the 'ghillie Kinguisse' method of pleating was the obvious solution. It is not so free swinging as the Kinguisse kilt I made, but then, nor does it fly up as easily, plus it is rather neat looking as the pleats tuck in a bit flatter than usual at the back. Anyone with any concerns about their bum looking big might do well to consider a reverse Kinguisse pleated kilt.