Questions on the Newsome 4yrd Box Pleat or 8yrd Knife Pleat?

[seanachie]

I know that I might sound like a stuck record Matt, but what needs to be made clear to those considering the box pleated kilt is that they are not usual over here and the apparent shock to some that they(box pleated kilt) are not common in the UK, is so very obvious(to me anyway) on occasion.The OP is not an old hand here, so I thought pointing out this fact to him and perhaps others, might be helpful with his decision making. I don't doubt for a second that there are box pleated kilts in the UK, but very few and far between.That is all I was trying to point out, apart from the "school girl skirt syndrome" that we seem to recognise over here.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, and I am asking this in the interogative,
is it not a little sad that something with verifiable historical accuracy would be denigrated as a school girls skirt? I enjoy learning the history and tradition on this board and it seems disheartening that this part of one's heritage would be essentially disowned.

[Jock Scot]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, and I am asking this in the interogative,
is it not a little sad that something with verifiable historical accuracy would be denigrated as a school girls skirt? I enjoy learning the history and tradition on this board and it seems disheartening that this part of one's heritage would be essentially disowned.

In many ways you are so right, but the truth is that the civilian box pleated kilt is almost unknown by most Scots of today. Why that is I suppose, is just an accident of history that no one can really explain. Now in the 1940/50/60/70 and maybe even to this day at some schools(I doubt it!) the box pleated skirt was standard issue for school girls and their school uniforms. Yes in those days all school children had to wear a school uniform and the girls wore box pleated skirts. That is why to many(those that are aware) of us over here think that the box pleated kilt looks like a skirt and it really does. That is a part of "our" history that perhaps you chaps outside the UK have not understood.

[Cygnus]

In many ways you are so right, but the truth is that the civilian box pleated kilt is almost unknown by most Scots of today. Why that is I suppose, is just an accident of history that no one can really explain. Now in the 1940/50/60/70 and maybe even to this day at some schools(I doubt it!) the box pleated skirt was standard issue for school girls and their school uniforms. Yes in those days all school children had to wear a school uniform and the girls wore box pleated skirts. That is why to many(those that are aware) of us over here think that the box pleated kilt looks like a skirt and it really does. That is a part of "our" history that perhaps you chaps outside the UK have not understood.

I quite like the look of the box-pleated kilt but the "iconic" school-girl skirt has, mostly through film, made its way to our shores; and I will admit that I had made the mental comparison upon first seeing Matt's kilts.

Given where I live, however, it is still a style that I am considering; though I will take Jock's advice and think twice about wearing one if ever I make the journey to my ancestral homeland! And if that second thought still has me proudly wearing a Matt Newsome box-pleat kilt, I'll be prepared with historical facts for the quizzical looks and verbally expressed questions I might encounter.

[seanachie]

Given where I live, however, it is still a style that I am considering; though I will take Jock's advice and think twice about wearing one if ever I make the journey to my ancestral homeland! And if that second thought still has me proudly wearing a Matt Newsome box-pleat kilt, I'll be prepared with historical facts for the quizzical looks and verbally expressed questions I might encounter.

Quizzical looks and verbally expressed questions, are definitely something I can handle. I actually am waiting for my first wool kilt, 16 oz Jura in Saffron, box pleated from John Hart (Keltoi). I have had enough strange reactions in wearing the kilt that I don't let it bother me. I have read the history of the box pleated kilt presented so well here, I know what a fine kilt maker John is from all his reviews, and the 4 yard box pleat put a wool kilt within my budget. I appreciate what you are saying about pulling this off in Scotland, but in my normal course of kilting if some has an issue with my kilt, the problem is theirs not mine. I have never been a lemming and don't propose to start, and part of why I like the kilted rabble.

[Jock Scot]

Now hold on! I am not aware that I have said in this thread that you will be ridiculed if you came to Scotland with your box pleated kilt, now have I? Most Highland Scots are far too polite to do that , what you might get is the occasional quizzical look-----that style of kilt is beyond our ken, after all------ and if they know you really, really well they may even ask to have a look at it! Whether an opinion will be voiced, well, I doubt that one will be given unless one is asked for and who knows what that might be? Wear your box pleats and be welcome , but at least you will know the situation.

[ccga3359]

I'd be ridiculed to no end, right Jock?

[Jock Scot]

I'd be ridiculed to no end, right Jock?

Oh yes of course! It would be nothing to do with the style of kilt you were wearing though!










Then, if I had anything to do with it-------well---------I would------buy you a drink!

[Ryan Ross]

For what it's worth, the school I attended for the last five years of my secondary education (8th grade plus high school) had uniforms. The girls were all in box pleated skirts in the Black Watch tartan(or some close variation, done up in a small sett). All day. Every day. Nearly every girl I saw for five years of my life was in a box pleated tartan skirt.

That being the case, I've personally never felt that a box pleated kilt reminded me of the schoolgirl skirts to which I was so accustomed to seeing.

...I suspect that Scottish aversion to box pleats may be, rather, a vast Victorian conspiracy!

[xman]

I keep checking in to hear about perceived merits of box pleats vs. knife pleats and the skirt argument continues?!


*nudge*

[Ryan Ross]

*ehem*

Having worn both with a lot of regularity, I have to admit that, all things being equal, I like the 4 yard box pleated kilt better. For starters, it's more economical. Secondly, it's more comfortable- taking off a "tank" at the end of the day feels like removing a back brace. It's cooler in the heat, and as TartanHiker's experiment seemed to indicate, may be warmer in winter, provided one was moving about rather than standing around. Finally, I like the look of it, and the history behind it.

As for the 8 yard knife pleat, it does have some points to reccomend it. There are likely more pleating options available, when compaired to the low yardage kilt. It has an almost hypnotic swing, and the ladies seem to to be drawn to that; possibly another plus(unless you're going to work the STM tent at a particularly hot highland games, and your girlfriend still wants to see all those pretty, narrow pleats).

I think every serious kilt-wearing man should have at least one 8 yard kilt; I think one low-yardage kilt, however, doesn't seem like enough at all.