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

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I wouldn't say that anyone is overly defensive of the box pleated kilt. However, when you are going to wear a style of kilt that is different from the norm, it does behoove you to be informed about it, so that when someone asks you, "Hey, how come your pleats look different than everyone else's?" you can give them an intelligent answer.

I, for one, don't really care much whether a person wears box pleated kilts, knife pleated kilts, kilts with both kinds of pleats (like the Kingussie kilts), is made with four yards, six yards, or eight yards. They all are fine kilts, in my opinion. I want someone to wear the kilt that he likes and will get enjoyment from!

I would say that most people who order box pleated kilts (at least those clients I deal with), understand that it is not the current norm for kilt fashion. Indeed, a lot of people I make kilts for find me specifically because they are seeking out a maker of four yard box pleated kilts. They have read about it in their research, or have seen someone else wearing one, and then seek out a kilt maker who offers it (most don't). So they know what it is they are getting and have decided that is the style that they want; and they have specifically sought out someone who can supply it.

I have yet to meet anyone who is under the impression that the Highlands of Scotland are currently populated with four yard box pleated kilt wearing throw-backs. I doubt anyone suffers from that illusion.

I do think what people (myself included) have a negative reaction to are certain people constantly pointing out that this style of kilt is not the recognized norm in Scotland. It is not because we would disagree with that statement, or that we think it takes away from the validity of the kilt style.

Rather, it is that no one is suggesting that it is the recognized norm for kilts in Scotland -- or anywhere else for that matter. People who make and/or wear four yard box pleated kilts recognize (and some revel in) the fact that it is a revivalist style and outside of the current kilt fashion norm.

Imagine someone growing up in a family of Ford owners who decides to buy himself a Chevy. He did his research, weighed the factors, and decided that was the car he wanted. He likes his new car, and he's fine with the fact that it's not a Ford. But at each and every family get together certain people feel obligated to remind him that this is "a Ford family" and "we don't drive Chevies." It would wear a bit thin after a while, no?

And the "reminds me of a school girl's skirt" comments seem particularly derisive. In many of our experiences the only time we hear "school girl" comments are from people who are completely ignorant of Highland Dress traditions and think they will have some fun making insulting comments about "the guy wearing the skirt." This is irrespective of pleating style. To hear these same comments from fellow kilt wearers on a forum dedicated to kilt wearing just seems out of place.

Not everyone is going to be a fan of the four yard box pleated kilt. That's fine. You don't have to be. But I would hope that one would be able to express that opinion in a way that would not be insulting those whose opinion differs.

[MacLowlife]

I have just finished a lengthy comment in another thread and it seems to me the same point applies here. This is a Community of Kiltwearers and, as such, the level of knowledge and appreciation is far different here from the average person on the street anywhere in the world. Any debate ought to recognize that we are far more likely to encounter someone who is ignorant of the Ways of the Kilt than someone who knows as much as we do. And any discussion that misses that point is sadly deficient.

I do not live in Scotland, but I have visited more than once and I recall seeing maybe three kilt wearers- a piper, a Young Punk wearing his over jeans with a leather jacket, and surely one more who I can't remember after all of these years. That in three trips in three decades, covering many cities and towns and the spaces between.

It is said that there are nearly as many Irish people in Chicago as in all of Ireland and I daresay that there are more kilt wearers outside of Scotland than in- and, by the way, far more non-kilt wearers in Scotland than wearers. So, while my Scots brothers are correct that the box pleat is not their tradition, someone else correctly observed that the average person (most likely in Scotland too) can't tell a box pleat from a knife pleat and only sees a man in a plaid garment that stops at his knees.

I have to admit, I have worn a woman's skirt turned around to close like a man's kilt. Do you honestly believe most of the people who saw me recognized what I had done? Or that they gave me credit for taking the trouble to make it close in the manly way? Sure, one kilt owning friend noticed and called me out on it, but many more have missed the difference or politely kept quiet. And that in a room full of kilts.

There have been times and places where a man in pleated trousers was ridiculed- and others where a man with no pleats suffered the same abuse. I think it is a very good thing to discuss and debate the finer points, but as the Nannies of Old used to say "It's YOU they want to see, not your clothes."

I expect several posters here wish they could add the right wink or nudge to their opinions, to make sure no offense was implied or inferred. And I expect at least one poster who meant it when he typed it wishes he had thought a minute longer first. I thank you all for your thoughts and for your interest.

The OP wanted to know about box pleated kilts. I hope he was able to find the advice he needed in amongst the rhetoric.