Lawnchair effect

[lethearen]

I'm just curious on this. In another thread Steve from Freedom Kilts mentioned:

It is very rare to find a Tartan that can be pleated using a Horizontal Stripe as the base.

I've heard about the lawnchair effect in a couple spots on here, consistently with cautions against it... but my question is, Steve said that it is very rare to find one that works pleated thus, which might lead one to believe that there exists a few that do...

Does anyone know of a tartan that can be pleated without a stripe and still look good? Even better, have pics?

[Rex_Tremende]

Isle of Skye to "no stripe" comes to mind.

[Monkey@Arms]

I seem to recall several pics posted by Barb T. that were pleated horizontally, and looked just fine. Perhaps the Antarctica tartan?

Best regards,

Jake

[fluter]

In large part the D.L.E. depends on the magnitude and shape of the hips in question; where the prominent horizontal stripes lie on the pleats, and the size and colors of the stripes.

A skinny guy can probably get away with anything; a medium sized guy (say, turpin) slightly less; and a heroically figured kiltie wants to avoid horizontal stripes if possible.

The Isle of Skye pleating (Example 1) (Example 2) which enjoys a particular vogue displays some heathery, muted colors rather than a bold contrast. I believe this may help.

My initial reaction to the MacDougall pleating was that the somewhat narrow horizontal stripes would look fine on a medium-sized kilt. To my eye, the pairs of wider stripes at the waist and near the hem look nice. Possibly they would emphasize the shaping of the waist and the swing of the pleats? I was pleased that I agreed with Barb's highly educated opinion, although I'm not sure whether my rationale is the same.

[george7]

If the lighting is right, you get vertical elements from the shadows, even if you don't have any showing vertical stripes.

[Barb T]

Here are a few. What most of these have in common is a lack of contrast. I've also included a few that aren't pleated to the "no stripe", but the vertical stripe is so subtle that the horizontal element is the most prominent. The only way to really determine whether it will work for a given tartan is to do a test pinning and stand back about 15 or 20 feet and see how it looks.

Ancient Douglas:



Isle of Skye:



Scottish Odyssey (this is a box pleated kilt with a stripe down the center of each pleat, but the stripe blends so much with the undercheck that it might as well be to the "no stripe":


Weathered Stewart Old Sett (this is another one that actually has a central stripe down each pleat, but it's small enough that, from any distance, the kilt looks pleated to the "no stripe"):





Antarctica (same thing here - not actually to the "no stripe", but the horizontal certainly dominates; and although this one has a lot of contrast, it still works, at least in my opinion):

[lethearen]

Thanks for the gorgeous pictures, Barb! I agree with Rex, the Isle of Skye is really something.

[Wompet]

Another of pleating to the "no stripe-stripe." Sackett, pleated to the thin black line in the brown.

Pleating to the thin black line in the green produces a similar effect.

[ChattanCat]

Here is a MacPherson pleated to the blue, black, blue, black, blue stripe. The red in the MacPherson is totaly missing in the pleats until it is revealed by movement.

[Monkey@Arms]

Just a jargon note for the benefit of some of our newer members. As I understand it, the term "pleating to no stripe" is not widely used outside of Xmarks, so if you are dealing with a non-Xmarks kilt maker, they may not understand exactly what you mean. Pictures, like the fantastic ones above, would clarify the effect you are looking for.

Best regards,

Jake