Are kilts getting longer?

[Ancienne Alliance]

Speaking of personal taste,

Beyond the slogan "I'll do what I want and no one is going to tell me how I should dress..." etc. , We think that a kilt worn anywhere below the knee cap simply dos not look good.

On me (I tried to lower my kilt in privacy, in front of my mirror), my lovely manly kilt all of a sudden looks like some strange cross dressing... Ouch !

Simply not my cup of coffee !


Best,

Robert

[Scotus]

I think we have to know the difference between fad, fashion, and tradition. I doubt if a current trend among the youth to wear the kilt below the knee is something that is necessarily going to last. This is the Traditional Highland Dress section, not the Highland Attire Gone Astray section.

As several have said, the kilt is cut to be worn at a certain level above the natural waist. It may look trendy or "youthful" to wear it at the same level as jeans, but it doesn't look very natural or good.

[freddie]

I remember a guy in a kiltmakers in Scotland saying to me "Of course if you've got a bit of a tummy on you the kilt will always drop a bit" and I guess that's what's happening here. The only way to avoid this would be to wear braces (suspenders) to keep the kilt at the right level.

[Deil the Yin]

Wow. Looks like that honeymoon didn't last too long! :P

[QUOTE=Paul.;790952]By the way here's a prime example of "it should fit; but he's got it too far down"

[thescot]

I remember a guy in a kiltmakers in Scotland saying to me "Of course if you've got a bit of a tummy on you the kilt will always drop a bit" and I guess that's what's happening here. The only way to avoid this would be to wear braces (suspenders) to keep the kilt at the right level.

No, actually, the straps on the side of the kilt will keep it at the proper level when adjusted tight. That is assuming that the kilt fits correctly to start with.

We of more generous girth know this. Only when you loosen the straps on a properly fitted kilt will it slide down on the hips.

And, in my opinion, looks deplorable. As said above, it looks more like cross dressing, but that floats your boat, so be it. Of course, I also detest "shorts" that are not shorts but are actually coullots, and any form or trousers that allow the posterier to protrude, but that's just me.

I wear mine just to the top of the knee cap--or a bit above--and I like it that way. In fact, for real walking or hiking, a longer kilt is pretty pesky as it tends to hit the back of my calves.

C'est la vie.

[MacLowlife]

Three quick points:
1) Whilst poking fun at the lady may be a little mean spirited, none of us rose to defend the poor gent who looks so vertically challenged in her presence. I wish them both the best, but agree, he might have found a rock or a small hill for this shot.

II.The guy in the RRS photo is a sad mess, in the opinion of THIS hick from the sticks. His shoulder boards look as if they are going to fly away with him, his sporran is longer than his kilt, and his sleeves are a little long, too.

C. The last bit- the sleeves, brings me back to the yout of today and kilt length. Just as MANY young people seem embarrassed by their wrists ( look at them in cafes, pulling their sweater/jumper cuffs over their hands) I expect many of them never imagined wearing a garment that starts any higher than the tops of their hips. They like their trousers to puddle at the shoe tops ( again- morbid fear of ankle revelation) and they hang them on their pelvic bones ( unlike we dignified old men who shove ours down with our tums ). What happens when Young Johnnie gets kitted out for a kilted wedding? The vest/waistcoat, which is tailored on the traditional notion, misses his kilt top by a foot or two and the helpful hire chap slips him a belt to fill the gap.

PS. I rather liked the K-A fellow's suggestion of "scooping" the front waistband a little.

[ChubRock]

I wonder if the trend of casual kilts has created the trend to wear them lower. Much like New Grass was the re-birth of Blue Grass music in our country, it certainly paid homage to old time music, but made it their own. The trend of low-rise jeans and baggy pants may have influenced fashion in the "Trendy Traditionalists" (did I just make up a phrase?)

I have recently contracted my first custom kilt. it should be here in days..... My kilt maker is in New Mexico but my body is in Minnesota. That's quite a distance, so measurements were taken and re-taken in my home and shared over the phone. My kilt maker asked many questions about how I prefer to wear the kilt; waistline and length as well as the roundness of posterior. Being the only kilts I wear are Utilikilts which are designed to be worn at the jeans belt line, and I prefer the bottom of the knee for my comfort, I wasn't sure how to answer. "Mid-knee" I said, thinking my Uks tend to ride downward after I pull them up to my navel and move about.

I realize that having a tank means wearing it appropriately at all times and 'representin' (in the vernacular of today's kids,) I will wear my tank at navel and hang to mid knee. if it is too long long I will hike it up until I can get it tailored properly.

To each their own, but as far as wearing it mid-shin, that's a skirt.

[Kilted Magyar]

Gentlemen, It's time to lighten up. For the definitive view go to this website and scroll down to view Platoon Sergeant Major "Donnie" Munro. The photo on the left should settle all questions regarding a dress code.

http://www.calgaryhighlanders.com/tr.../fulldress.htm

[Ian.MacAllan]

Gentlemen, It's time to lighten up. For the definitive view go to this website and scroll down to view Platoon Sergeant Major "Donnie" Munro. The photo on the left should settle all questions regarding a dress code.

http://www.calgaryhighlanders.com/tr.../fulldress.htm

Well, I'm not going to criticize the placement of his sporran.

.

[OC Richard]

I've spent the last thirty years playing in pipe bands, and in civilian pipe bands at least the trend has been to wear the kilt lower and pull up the socks higher, just like our diminuitive groom there.

Only in the Scottish military do I still see the hose worn the old way, somewhat lower on the calf.