Pleat direction ?

[Ryan Ross]

Now, Kingussie pleats go both ways (like on a Utilikilt).

Well, though it's off-topic, I have to point out that Utilikilts don't use the Kingussie pleat, but something rather more like a "reverse Kingussie" pleat. On a UK, all pleats point in. A Kingussie pleated kilt has all pleats pointing out, like such:

[beloitpiper]

Thank you for pointing that out, Ryan.

Also, as I understood it, women's skirts are always pleated to the left while men's kilts are pleated to the right. Is this correct?

[The Wizard of BC]

From a Kiltmaker perhaps I can shed some light on this subject.

The original Kilts (and the old ones in The Scottish Tartans Museum) were pleated in Box Pleats and did not pay much attention to the pattern of the Tartan.

As the Kilts began to be used in the Military they started to be standardized.
The Knife Pleat came into being as the preferred method and the pleat direction is - pointing backwards on the left side and going around in the same direction till they are pointing forward on the right side.

The Military Kilts were usually, but not always, pleated 'To The Stripe' where one prominent stripe is down the center of each pleat.

As Kilts came into public use and more Kiltmakers were trained and in business 'Pleating To The Sett' came into being. This is where the Tartan pattern on the aprons is repeated in the back of the Kilt. These Kilts still used what has by now become the standard Knife Pleat pointing back on the left, around to pointing forward on the right.

The Kingussie Pleating is known by one example in the Kingussie Museum. It seems to have been a 'one-off' and not too many kilts were made with this pleating style. In a Kingussie pleated Kilt the center back had one large box pleat with all the rest of the pleats facing forward from that.

When the Utilikilts Co. began to make MUGS they chose a pleating style that was easy to mass produce. They developed what we now call 'Reverse Kingussie'. In Reverse Kingussie pleating the center back has one inverted box pleat and all the rest point backwards into that center.
The current popularity of Reverse Kingussie pleating comes from the ease of manufacture and what so some seems to be a more symetrical look.

Pleating a Kilt with Knife Pleats but going in the opposite direction of the 'Standard' looks a bit strange to most today. This is not to say it can't be done or that it shouldn't be done but will people notice the difference? OH YEA. I remember a young budding Kiltmaker who showed photos of his Kilts here on X Marks about three years ago and it only took about 10 min. for someone to point out that the pleats went in the 'wrong' direction. That Kiltmaker simply had never seen an actual Kilt and did not know what was standard. I believe they make all kilts now with Standard Pleat Direction.

A woman's Pleated Skirt has even fewer rules to it than does a man's Kilt. In Pipe Bands the Women wear men's Kilts. This is for uniformity. If a skirt is made for a woman and it is to look similar to a Kilt the apron can, but does not have to, open to the left. The pleat direction can, but again, does not have to, go in the opposite direction.

As an interesting side note I have some undocumented evidence that what we now call "Military Box Pleats" or "Rolled Pleats" may have resulted from a young military guy making his Kilt with the pleats going in the wrong direction. in an attempt to fix it the inside of the pleats were flipped around forming the distinctive, small, false, box pleats.

If you wish to make a Kilt with 'non-standard' pleats or a 'non-standard' direction there is no rule that says you can't. You can then wear it and eventhough you may get asked about it no one can say you are wrong.

But can you sell them?