Responses to Box Pleats

[Woodsheal]

I've only had one less-than-positive reaction from a "traditionalist." Our kilt night "guru" is Victor, an 85 years old Scottish gent who emigrated to the US back in the `50's. He's a Royal Navy vet, very much into his Scottish heritage, and wears his Highland garb with a natural elegance (you've seen pics of him posted here).

Anyways, I was wearing my Matt Newsome box-pleated to one of our kilt nights when Victor asked me suspiciously, "What kind of kilt is THAT?" When I explained about it being the earlist form of tailored kilt, etc., he just stared at me like I had spiders crawling out of my nostrils!

To some folks, a kilt is an 8 yd, knife pleated, tartan wool object - period! Victor also shakes his head in disdain at other "funny" kilts, as he calls them, including belted plaids, UK's, etc....

[MacWage]

If you look at old kilts and the DATES of when box pleats and knife/side pleats are mentioned, the fact IS that boxes were FAR more common until the late 1800s. From the late 1800s til today (just over a hundred to 150 years), the knife pleat is the common one. It was Bob Martin who, almost singlehandedly, revived box pleats (after looking at many old ones in museums).
Now, X Marks is helping to make them more and more revived.

As to what was done in great kilts and "philabegs" (I STILL don't like that term, but haven't found another better to type/write quickly), it is a matter of MUCH discussion, though most were probably randomly "gathered," rather than actually "pleated" at all.

So, in short:
-The VAST MAJORITY won't even notice.
-A very few locked in the idea that the 8 yard knife if the ONLY way a kilt can be or ever has been, might be "upset."
-More "traditionalists" (quotations as the boxes are actually even more traditional) and general kilt wearers will simply say, "not my thing."
-Others will be curious as it is not like all they've seen and will be facinated by the deeper history of kilts and the development of them.


(Aside-> when Erskine wrote his kilt book, the setting to sett was actually seen as being the "new and innovative" thing. THAT was 1907!!)