Pleating to Horizontal ?!

**Slowburn** · 28th January 11, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by mookien

Someone please enlighten me. In Dr. Nicholas J. Fiddes' excellent e-book (for beginners like me) available on the Scotweb home page, he writes,

"A third even rarer method of pleating, ‘to horizontal’, involves choosing a point in the sett for the folds that creates the illusion of a series of strong horizontal bands across the rear. Only a true master of kiltmaking is likely to accomplish this successfully, so do not ask it of a novice. But anyway, it is arguably rare for a reason, as many find it less flattering or aesthetically pleasing."

I know about pleating to sett and stripe, but what exactly is being described here, and why do many find it less pleasing?

My kilt is pleated to a particular stripe and creates a horizontal-band pattern on the pleats. Why wouldn't it be described as pleated "to horizontal"? I see lots of kilts like it and they look good to me!

- Puzzled in Bamburgh

While being measured by Rocky I enquired about an unusual line set and he refered to the unflattering result as the lawn chair effect. That is to say the bars resembling having sat upon a strapped chair and being left with those horizontal stripes.

**mookien** · 16th February 11, 05:15 PM

Brian: That possibility had not occurred to me. Thanks for pointing it out. That may very well be what "Nick" meant when he wrote those words, and for beginners elaborating on it any further would likely have been even more puzzling.

In any case I understand it now and all the good folks on this thread can take credit or that. :-)

**Alan H** · 16th February 11, 07:16 PM

My XMTS tartan kilt is pleated this way. There is no strong vertical element centered in the pleats.

and especially here...I am the big guy on the far left.

**Alan H** · 16th February 11, 07:22 PM

From left to right...pleating styles

Me...6-yard kilt pleated to "no stripe" , meaning that the kilt is pleated to the same area in the sett, but there is no strong vertical element in the sett at that point. 24 pleats

Panache: kilt made by Way2Fractious, military box pleat with the gold line centered; "8 yard kilt" though it's probably actually 7 yards of cloth on Jamie and probably about 28-30 pleats..

the young lad is Panache's son...knife pleat to "no stripe" like mine.

In the middle is way2Fractious, knife pleated to sett, 8 yard kilt or close enough

Next to the far right is Alan (another Alan) with kilt pleated to stripe, the gold line centered.

Far right is an X Marks the Scot tartan kilt done up by Sportkilt, 'round MacKellars rumpus, so more or less knife pleated to the dominant white stripe, but not all that many pleats.

**mookien** · 16th February 11, 10:15 PM

Alan: What a great picture of different pleating styles (and kilt lengths for that matter)! Thanks. I'll keep that one for illustrative purposes.

I like the "dreaded lawn-chair effect". I would like it even if it went completely around the kilt, though it wouldn't be very traditional, I suppose. I also like it for the striking, visual "swishing" effect that Tobus wrote about. And for me, the knife-edges of the pleats themselves provide enough vertical contrast to maintain the plaided look.

I must confess, though, that the horizontal-dominant effect in your kilt does create the optical illusion that your butt is bigger than everyone else in the line. ;-)

**Alan H** · 17th February 11, 01:38 PM

Originally Posted by mookien

Alan: What a great picture of different pleating styles (and kilt lengths for that matter)! Thanks. I'll keep that one for illustrative purposes.

I like the "dreaded lawn-chair effect". I would like it even if it went completely around the kilt, though it wouldn't be very traditional, I suppose. I also like it for the striking, visual "swishing" effect that Tobus wrote about. And for me, the knife-edges of the pleats themselves provide enough vertical contrast to maintain the plaided look.

I must confess, though, that the horizontal-dominant effect in your kilt does create the optical illusion that your butt is bigger than everyone else in the line. ;-)

My butt IS bigger than everybody elses in the line! I weighed about 275 in that picture, I'm about 285 now. There isn't anybody else in that shot who weighs more that 175...a hundred pounds less!