Irish Kilts and Tartans

[GDub]

...With regard to Derry/Londonderry I think the only appropriate response is:

Troll?? Has someone been tippling the Poitín?

[O'Callaghan]

Nice article.

Qustion...

In my many wanderings I have encountered clothing referred to as the lein, which I take to be a long tunic type shirt with big sleeves possibly. I have also read about the brat. Is this where the confusion comes from? From what I have read the brat was a big blanket, like the belted plaid. I have read that these were worn by both the Irish and Highland Scots. Is this true? Did the belted plaid evolve out of the said garment?

Yes, and yes! The brat became the belted plaid by wearing a belt over it. And the tunic is the leine, plural leinte. The style of sleeves varied over time, big sleeves being a late development, so the leinte worn by the Scotii that emigrated from Ireland to the Scottish Highlands would not have had the big sleeves.

[BoldHighlander]

Great article Matt & Todd!

As an aside, (because we did not have an "official" tartan), about 5 years ago I was involved in a vote undertaken by the Ó Mórdha Clan Society to adopt the solid green as the "official" clan kilt w/ a swatch of the St. Patrick's tartan worn behind the clan badge upon the caubeen

[Red Stag]

I'm surprised no one has noticed this yet. We didn't point it out in the article itself, but in the accompanying pictures, take a close look at the pleats in the kilts. They are all running the opposite direction as we would expect. Mayhaps this was the Irish kiltmakers' attempt to make their version of the kilt a bit different from the Scottish kilt?

I'm surprised that I haven't seen more discussion about this... I wonder if some of our kiltmakers on this forum would take note and start offering pleats going in the opposite direction for saffron or green kilts or for tartans of Irish surnames. I have thought about getting a saffron kilt for a few months but I was thinking of getting a traditional wool kilt for my Irish surname first.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I'm surprised that I haven't seen more discussion about this... I wonder if some of our kiltmakers on this forum would take note and start offering pleats going in the opposite direction for saffron or green kilts or for tartans of Irish surnames. I have thought about getting a saffron kilt for a few months but I was thinking of getting a traditional wool kilt for my Irish surname first.

A wool kilt in Saffron would be very traditional! And I'm sure if you asked your kiltmaker to have the pleats run the opposite direction he/she could accomodate.

[RockyR]

Pleats going the opposite direction on a traditional kilt are more difficult b/c most sewing machines are 'right handed'. To make a kilt with pleats going the opposite direction would require sewing the kilt with the bulk of the fabric on the kiltmakers RIGHT side, under the arm of the machine. When I made my Reverse Kingussie tweed kilt for myself, I had to do the first HALF of the kilt that way... not fun.

[Hothir Ethelnor]

Actually Rocky you can sew from the bottom of the fell up when sewing the reverse pleats.

[O'Callaghan]

Actually Rocky you can sew from the bottom of the fell up when sewing the reverse pleats.

Ladies kilts would normally have the pleats running in the opposite direction, so I was thinking they wouldn't do that if it was really so difficult.

[ccga3359]

Rocky was refering to when using a sewing machine not hand stitching.

[O'Callaghan]

Rocky was refering to when using a sewing machine not hand stitching.

So how do you sew a ladies' kilt on a machine? Not that I want to make one, I'm just curious. Could this be why Sport Kilt makes all theirs the same as their men's kilts?

All the others I've seen have been the opposite of men's ones, i.e. they close on the other side and the pleats run the other way around. In fact it's a telltale sign at renfests when you see guys who have their pleats running the wrong way around, so you know that they have 'converted' them from ladies' kilts by changing the closing.