MacLean Hunting Modern - to the set or to the stripe?

[Terry Searl]

Personally I like the pleating to the stripe. Being a Canadian I don't have any preconceived notions as to what was done in the past. Or what the kilt maker of long ago controlled.
To me pleating to the stripe or whatever you choose makes it a bit more personal because it is what YOU like.

As for the reveal when walking I really agree it should be thoroughly considered..... I like a bit of flash and some tartans will have more than others.........

When I had my Canadian Maple leaf tartan built the kilt makers showed me 5 or 6 ways it could be pleated on the exact piece of cloth my kilt was to be built from. So I knew exactly what I was getting.....They also showed me photographs of what the kilt looked like with others wearing it. Everything was considered, so it was my choice, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out

[Tobus]

Thanks LKM, that helps me to visualise it a little bit better. The kiltmaker told me that he would probably stripe it to the white line as is the dominant line according to him.
Will have to decide next week when I visit him.

Since this tartan has double white lines next to each other, that may be sort of tricky. Pleating to a dominant stripe is simple when there is one single dominant stripe in the center of the sett, which can be centered in each pleat. But with two of them that close to each other, the kiltmaker would have to choose whether to try to get both of them visible in the pleats, or just use one of them in each pleat. Depending on the sett size and the width of the pleats, this might be difficult to do, and might look odd when finished. Before he commits to pleating to the stripe, I would definitely have him do a mock-up on the table so you can see how it will look.

But I do agree this tartan would look better (to me) pleated to the sett. Darker tartans like this with a bold white stripe, when pleated to the stripe, will indeed come off looking like a military kilt. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you like the look, but it is what a lot of people will associate it with. Just as an example, here's the sort of visual effect you could expect when pleating to the white lines on a darker tartan. This is a QOH military kilt of mine. Granted, it's got military box pleats which are very narrow, so the white lines might be tighter together than a standard knife-pleated kilt. But still, notice how the whole back of the kilt turns very white. Back up from your computer and look at it, blurring your eyes a bit, and try to envision seeing this kilt from a distance as others will see you when wearing it. Do you see the horizontal "lawnchair stripe" effect?

[HarveyH]

The other thing to consider is whether you think you might ever want to adjust the size of the kilt. If it is a long term investment and you are not going to maintain your current waist size your kiltmaker can build in room for expansion (my own concern ...)

This is really only possible if pleated to the stripe (one of the reasons for military use of stripe pleating).

Any decent kilt maker will show you the options and explore the varieties in sett size between different weavers. Frankly if they don’t do this they are not really a decent bespoke kiltmaker.

As for the so called “lawn chair” effect, this is rather overstated by some of the comments here. If there is a strong vertical stripe on the pleat the horizontal element is significantly diminished. But again, your kiltmaker will be able to show you what this really might mean.

As with many many things on this site - at the end of the day there are no rules and it’s down to personal preference.

[WillowEstate]

Late to the party but another consideration is the size of the sett, well illustrated in the picture Tobus has shown, a couple of posts back. That is a MacKenzie Seaforth military (I have one too) and the sett is red line to red line (the red lines occur only every other white line, easier to see in the horizontal stripes in the photo). On mine, the sett is 15 inches and pleated to the sett, that would produce extremely deep pleats, so the military kilts, as Jock points out, are usually pleated to the white line.

That said, on a smaller sett, I do agree that, to my eyes, pleating to the sett is more attractive but each to his own.