How do you measure up?

[MacSimoin]

I’ve recently been engaged in a (private) discussion on how to measure yourself for a kilt; I'm no expert at any of this but I'm doing my best to help out. Notice I didn’t say properly measure; I just don’t feel that’s an appropriate way to start this thread since we’re all unique and therefore we do things differently regarding kilts.

So, to expand on my other post, I thought it would be beneficial for some of the ‘newbies’ to read how others (here at Xmarks) take their own personal kilt measurements. I’m sure a lot of us own tailor tapes (cloth or plastic) and have no issues measuring ourselves, but it’s not always that simple because some of us feel the need (nothing wrong with that) to rely on a kilt maker (or someone else) to do so.

So, if you can share how you take your own kilt measurements, I think that would be a great help for those looking to do so on their own. If you have a kilt maker do it for you (or your are a kilt maker), then you can just skip this.

I’ll start:

1. Waist: Simple enough; I wrap the tape around my waist directly over the navel. The difference in the space above (and below) is negligible so over my navel works fine for ne.

2. Hips: Again, it’s simple, Simon: I wrap the tape around the widest part of my bottom (beep, beep, beep...look out, he's backing up).

3. Length: This is where I differ greatly from most kilt wearers because I wear my kilts at the bottom of my kneecap rather than at the middle or above it. How I’ve done this (in the past) is to sit down with my legs outstretched (toes up, heels on floor) and located the bottom of my kneecap (by sight and feel) and using a pen I've marked my skin. Standing up, I’ve had someone (my fiance) find a spot on my abdomen directly above my kneecap (on my ribcage) but level with my navel and recorded the measurement from there. And so, all of my kilts are a 24” drop length and they sit right where I want them to, not where convention (or anyone else) says they should.

So, how do you measure up?

[RCallan]

Not for anything more than I like my knees!

Plus I always hate wearing anything longer than my knees...(No silly jokes here)

Such as long shorts that go past your knees...CLAM Diggers...
Or if you rolled up your jeans to your knees....UGH...always disliked that.

My kilts...always show a little knee...never have to worry about catching a plete if I kneel down...

Or anyone saying...."That's a long skirt!!!!"

Just me...

[Scottish Chi]

Since I have only done that once I followed the instructions given to me by Barb T. for the kilt she is presently making for me. Her instructions were nicely detailed. There were even 3 methods for measuring the length. I used all three methods to see how they compared and then chose the one she suggested as the best. When in doubt/uniformed/ignorant I always defer to the expert so in this case I felt this to be the prudent path to follow.
Waist and Hip were similar to those given by MacSimoin the length involved using another kilt as a starting reference/measuring device.

Cheers! Bill

[cavscout]

Waist: wrap the tape where I want the kilt to ride. I prefer at or just below the navel.

Hips: around the widest and protruding part of the haunches and I leave a bit of room for the twig and berry's.

Length: I like to show knee, so I use the ethod described on the UK web site where you kneeland measure with a rigid measureing device like a yard stick (I used a carpenters metal tape measure since it's what I had). This places the bottom edge ofthe kilt at the top of the knee. I prefer this height because if it were any longer it would tap and irritate my knees as I walked or move around.

[David Dalglish]

Waist & hips I measure the same--The length I kneel on the floor,& with someone else help, measure from the floor to where you want the kilt to sit, this is usually on the navel or slightly above, depending on your personal taste. I like my kilts to sit a little above my navel. This feels right for me