I tried it on, and more questions

[Tobus]

I removed the bottommost thread last night and it definitely freed the thing up but I still have problems, pins still not laying right despite me putting it more inward, the kilt itself just doesn’t fit right and it bunches up between the straps on the right, makes me wonder, should i just give up on kilts? Starting to think my body just doesn’t work with them.

You may not want to hear this, but it's not that your body doesn't work with kilts. It's that the cheap kilts you're buying are not made for your body shape. You're purchasing inexpensive "off the peg" kilts which come in standard sizing schemes that are made for a generic or "average" body shape. That sort of one-size-fits-all measurement scheme usually means it fits nobody well, and the further your shape is from the average, the worse it fits. You're finding out what many, many other kilt purchasers in the past have learned. If you want your kilt to fit well, you need to have it made to your measurements. This means going to a real kiltmaker and ordering one based on the measurements they ask for to ensure it conforms to your shape and hangs well. It's going to cost significantly more than a mass-made kilt, but it's worth it.

Based on your photo at the top of this thread, you likely need a kilt with a much more dramatic flare between the top strap and the fell area (and you need to be wearing it higher so the top straps engage your natural waist). Even though I have a somewhat trim body shape, I find that generic kilts don't have enough flare around my hips and rear end, causing some of the problems you describe. I gave up long ago on generic kilts.

[Steve Ashton]

Different kilts are designed to fit at different places on the body.
It is only with the modern styles that we get kilts designed to be worn low like trousers.
All of these kilt will have the bottom, or Selvedge edge, hit right at the top of the knee cap.



Most of the Middle Eastern import kilts follow the basic ideas from "Traditional" kilts and should be worn higher.
How high? Well, one way to tell if you are wearing a kilt where it was designed to be worn is to reach around the back.
Find where the bottom of the area where the pleats are sewn down. This sewn area is called "The Fell".

The bottom of the sewn-down area should be right at the widest part of the hips or buttocks. On most men this will be right about where the hip joint rotates.

Raise or lower the waist of the kilt until the bottom of the Fell is at the hip line.

Wearing a kilt with the bottom of the Fell below the hip line will cause large shower curtain folds in the back.
And as you will sit on the sewn-down pleats it will put too much stress on the stitching which will probably fail.



Wearing a kilt with the bottom of the Fell too high will cause the pleats to flare out.



If the bottom of the Fell is in the correct place on your body the back of the kilt should lay flat and from just a few feet away you should not be able to tell there are any pleats.



The big difference between a Traditional kilt and most of the Middle Eastern imports is that there is no flare to the top of the kilt from the center of the top strap up to the top band.

Traditional -



Non-Traditional -



So the non-Traditional kilts may feel like they are sliding down as the day wears on.


Oh, - and about the kilt pin.
Kilt Pins are jewelry. Bling. About like a lady wearing a brooch. They are not to hold the kilt aprons closed. You do not pin the outer apron and the inner apron together. You will tear your kilt.

They are a very personal thing. They may be of almost anything the wearer likes. But they are almost always worn somewhere on the right side of the outer apron. Usually somewhere that will not cause the pin to flop around and catch on stuff.

[AmateurKiltsmen]

You may not want to hear this, but it's not that your body doesn't work with kilts. It's that the cheap kilts you're buying are not made for your body shape. You're purchasing inexpensive "off the peg" kilts which come in standard sizing schemes that are made for a generic or "average" body shape. That sort of one-size-fits-all measurement scheme usually means it fits nobody well, and the further your shape is from the average, the worse it fits. You're finding out what many, many other kilt purchasers in the past have learned. If you want your kilt to fit well, you need to have it made to your measurements. This means going to a real kiltmaker and ordering one based on the measurements they ask for to ensure it conforms to your shape and hangs well. It's going to cost significantly more than a mass-made kilt, but it's worth it.

Based on your photo at the top of this thread, you likely need a kilt with a much more dramatic flare between the top strap and the fell area (and you need to be wearing it higher so the top straps engage your natural waist). Even though I have a somewhat trim body shape, I find that generic kilts don't have enough flare around my hips and rear end, causing some of the problems you describe. I gave up long ago on generic kilts.

As much as i'd love to, i just don't have the money and besides the only kiltmaker i knew my parents kept me away from until he went bankrupt, and it's not as if there's any other in my area, i asked my parents to let me get a kilt made for 5 years (all through my teen years) and they didn't let me, that's why i recently resorted to buying cheap kilts, it's not as if i want to, i have no choice.


I was also bought up frugal (i mean in a way, i often wasn't allowed a £20 toy but my parents were driving around in a sports car) so buy once cry once, as much as it may work for most people, doesn't sit well with me, i always work my way up.

Regarding how high it is, i measured for just above my naval so that's where i wear it and where it feels the tightest, i don't know much about the flare or what it comes from but is there anything i can do to increase it on my own? and is that anything to do with the way the pin hangs? would it look better when i wear more stuff over the top of it? as it is i need to buy a longer sporran chain.

More of the odd fit here, strange thing is i returned one that i bought too big but that one actually hung pretty decently, this one though.

[AmateurKiltsmen]

Different kilts are designed to fit at different places on the body.
It is only with the modern styles that we get kilts designed to be worn low like trousers.
All of these kilt will have the bottom, or Selvedge edge, hit right at the top of the knee cap.



Most of the Middle Eastern import kilts follow the basic ideas from "Traditional" kilts and should be worn higher.
How high? Well, one way to tell if you are wearing a kilt where it was designed to be worn is to reach around the back.
Find where the bottom of the area where the pleats are sewn down. This sewn area is called "The Fell".

The bottom of the sewn-down area should be right at the widest part of the hips or buttocks. On most men this will be right about where the hip joint rotates.

Raise or lower the waist of the kilt until the bottom of the Fell is at the hip line.

Wearing a kilt with the bottom of the Fell below the hip line will cause large shower curtain folds in the back.
And as you will sit on the sewn-down pleats it will put too much stress on the stitching which will probably fail.



Wearing a kilt with the bottom of the Fell too high will cause the pleats to flare out.



If the bottom of the Fell is in the correct place on your body the back of the kilt should lay flat and from just a few feet away you should not be able to tell there are any pleats.



The big difference between a Traditional kilt and most of the Middle Eastern imports is that there is no flare to the top of the kilt from the center of the top strap up to the top band.

Traditional -



Non-Traditional -



So the non-Traditional kilts may feel like they are sliding down as the day wears on.


Oh, - and about the kilt pin.
Kilt Pins are jewelry. Bling. About like a lady wearing a brooch. They are not to hold the kilt aprons closed. You do not pin the outer apron and the inner apron together. You will tear your kilt.

They are a very personal thing. They may be of almost anything the wearer likes. But they are almost always worn somewhere on the right side of the outer apron. Usually somewhere that will not cause the pin to flop around and catch on stuff.

Thanks for the help, oddly enough the last one i had which i returned for being too big did hang a bit better, as for the pin, i'm not putting it through both, it feels like i could rip it out through one as it is, i'm not sure if it's because of how it's weighted or something but it always wants to wrap around my leg or refuse to hang perpendicular to the kilt, more like it wants to hang facing down to the floor, and i've moved it inward a fair bit.



I'm wondering, should i wear this or should i shelve kilts til i have the money to buy something like kinloch anderson to order?

[Steve Ashton]

You have the kilt. Wear it. Just wear it well. We can try to help with that.

[Tobus]

and is that anything to do with the way the pin hangs?

Your photos are very small and dark, but it looks like one of those typical clansman style claymore swords with the clan badge on it, right?

Those things are top-heavy/front-heavy due to the design, and IMHO never hang well. Plus they're heavy and clunky and don't lie flat against the cloth with the way the clasp is designed. So no, it's probably always going to hang awkwardly and swing around a bit unless you modify it or stabilise it to the cloth.

[AmateurKiltsmen]

You have the kilt. Wear it. Just wear it well. We can try to help with that.

I’ll try to wear it well

[AmateurKiltsmen]

Your photos are very small and dark, but it looks like one of those typical clansman style claymore swords with the clan badge on it, right?

Those things are top-heavy/front-heavy due to the design, and IMHO never hang well. Plus they're heavy and clunky and don't lie flat against the cloth with the way the clasp is designed. So no, it's probably always going to hang awkwardly and swing around a bit unless you modify it or stabilise it to the cloth.

Yea it’s a claymore with a thistle on the handle, would it be better if I flipped it upside down? Next kilt I’ll probably buy a lightning bolt for.

[ShaunMaxwell]

Yea it’s a claymore with a thistle on the handle, would it be better if I flipped it upside down? Next kilt I’ll probably buy a lightning bolt for.

Like this?

https://slanjkilts.com/kiltpins/ligh...in-matt-finish

Cheers,

SM

[AmateurKiltsmen]

Like this?

https://slanjkilts.com/kiltpins/ligh...in-matt-finish

Cheers,

SM

That’s fine, but I also like the TFCK one