If I am reading the historical accounts correctly, the original saffron was a little lighter in color than what we have now. Not quite yellow, almost a gold.
The leine was made of linen, which is hard to dye. I think they used saffron because nothing else would take, out of what was available in ancient Ireland, and by all accounts it came out pale yellow, no doubt for the same reason. Other fabrics dyed with saffron come out in a sort of orange/brown, ergo the saffron kilt is not the same hue as the saffron leine. Whether those who first adopted the saffron kilt actually knew this I'm not sure. Not all leinte (pl. of leine) were dyed, some were natural linen colour, and some had borders sewn on or used contrasting thread. I don't think they were necessarily all pleated (kilted) and the neckline and the sleeves changed over time. Like now, not everyone would have worn the same style. Even now, Irish linen jackets are often undyed, although that's more tradition than necessity, given modern dyes and blended fabric.
Here's what the old saffron leine would have looked like: This is from an exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
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