Kilt Pin Position

[davedove]

Just somewhere down in the lower outside corner is fine. It doesn't have to be so many inches in from teh apron edge or up from the bottom. Just use the EB method (the "eye-ball" method) and put it where it looks right.

M

Matt's advice is the best here (and he ought to know ).

I'm sure the kilted military units have exact rules for placing the pin, but for civilian wearing, just make it look good.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

If the wind is as strong as some are describing here, I fail to see what good pinning the outside apron to the inside will do. After all, if the wind is that strong it will take both aprons up with it! I'd rather have them loose, and that way maybe the outside apron will blow up with the inner one staying in place.

In any case, I have never been in wind strong enough to actually blow the front of my kilt up -- it's usually the back that gets blown, and I find even there that it usually feels worse than it is.

I'll be walking downtown and feel like the wind is blowing the back of my kilt all over the place, only to catch sight of myself in the reflection in a store window and see that my pleats are barely moving.

M

[scoutniagara]

Caradoc,

What a lovely photo! What tartan is the piper wearing? Wallace?

Recently, I took a look at one of my pins on one of my kilts and decided to move it. I had placed it right on one of the stripes, and you could barely see the pin. I moved it over to a more solid section and you can see it more clearly, now.

[Hamish]

I am absolutely with Matt on this. Never, ever, pin the two aprons together! If you should catch the pin on a piece of furniture, or some other immovable object (and it is easily done), you will rip or pull the fabric of one or both aprons. Personally, I have never experienced this but, in my 55+ years of kilt wearing, I have seen several instances of badly torn aprons where the pins had been caught.

Few kilt pins are heavy enough to hold down the apron in a wind and they really should not be thought of as being anything other than decorative.

As for the position of the pin (the original question!): there are no rules and, again, I agree with Matt - let your eye decide where it should be. Usually, I aim for a spot about three inches in from the apron's fringe and about four inches up from the selvedge, but it really depends upon the tartan as the pin looks best when 'centred' between stripes.

[Caradoc]

As for the position of the pin (the original question!): there are no rules and, again, I agree with Matt - let your eye decide where it should be.

I have one rule - the pin has to be "inside" the line from where the front apron is attached to a strap straight down to the selvedge. If you put the pin closer to the fringe than that line, it'll flap all over the place depending on how severe the taper is on your apron.

[Caradoc]

Caradoc,

What a lovely photo! What tartan is the piper wearing? Wallace?

I didn't really have time to ask him, but his website says it's the Ramsay tartan.

He's Pipe Major Roderick Deans, and he's really quite good.

[Nanook]

I am absolutely with Matt on this. Never, ever, pin the two aprons together! If you should catch the pin on a piece of furniture, or some other immovable object (and it is easily done), you will rip or pull the fabric of one or both aprons.

I'd leave the pin off near furniture. Given the lack of gusty winds, save in the eye of a hurricane, they are just show. Kept even to the outer apron there are still more than enough chances for something to go wrong. If you must wear a pin I'd make sure that the area is fortified (some makers beef up the cloth in the region with some form of leather).

Personally, I have never experienced this but, in my 55+ years of kilt wearing, I have seen several instances of badly torn aprons where the pins had been caught.

And I'd guess all with their pins attached well mannered to their outer aprons.

Few kilt pins are heavy enough to hold down the apron in a wind and they really should not be thought of as being anything other than decorative.

Agree. There are occasions for pins but, in general, ...

[Blu (Ontario)]

There was some discourse on this subject I remembered from a couple of years ago with Robbie from Scotland.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=7903

[arrogcow]

No rules, but here is how I place my kilt pin. Put kilt on, then stand with your feet shoulder width apart (or at parade rest for the military guys). I place the line up the pin so it is dead center of my leg and that the bottom is right where the hollow above the knee becomes the thigh. Depending on the tartan I may move it slightly to the right or left to get the pin on a dominant stripe rather than the "base" color of the kilt. Since you're putting it on while wearing, make sure that someone else makes sure it is straight.

And once you put it on, leave it there, get a pin for each kilt and call it good. Trading pins around will ultimately damage the kilt.

Adam

[GatorUK]

I suppose wearing a small kilt pin and positioning it where the ladies have to bend over to get a good look at it does not factor into this discussion?