Silk kilt

[philbo]

I also wouldn't mind trying on a kilt made of silk. I think my biggest concern would be perspiration. Silk tends to cling to the skin when it gets wet.

[TartanTangent]

Hi Bubba,
I haven't seen a silk kilt on a man, but I have seen a kilted hostess skirt on a woman. It was pleated to sett & was gorgeous.
I ordered 6 yards of silk dupioni from tartanstore.net & the quality was excellent! I had it made up into a long skirt, not a kilt & my Atelier said she had never seen such exquisite quality outside of Europe.
The silk I got was fairly heavy & not slippery, so I imagine it wouldn't be hard to work with at all.
Good luck!

[Carolina Kiltman]

Just a bit of trivia re silk. The musical Man of La Mancha costume designer originally made Aldonza's skirt from a piece of laundered burlap. It didn't last through the first week! (If you remember the show, she gets beat up a bit). Finally the skirt was made of hand-woven tussa silk from India, and lasted throughout the entire run of the show. Tough stuff if properly prepared.

So, if it is "suit weight" it should be OK. I have a sport jacket in a herringbone tweed made of silk. Very durable, nice drape. My only concern would be how well it would hold the pleats.

[TartanTangent]

Pure silk does not hold pleats well at all! The only "silk" that doesn't wrinkle immediately is *ug* polyester.

Even when silk is blended with a fairly high proportion of wool, I have found that it sags with the heat of your body. It looks beautiful, but garments made of this material spend a great portion of their lives at the dry cleaners.

[Carolina Kiltman]

Pure silk does not hold pleats well at all! The only "silk" that doesn't wrinkle immediately is *ug* polyester.

Even when silk is blended with a fairly high proportion of wool, I have found that it sags with the heat of your body. It looks beautiful, but garments made of this material spend a great portion of their lives at the dry cleaners.

That was my impression. BTW some of the new generation of Polyester, like Nylon isn't bad at all, if you don't expect the Polyester to be wool, nor the Nylon cotton. I have both in casual outdoor wear, and they are quite presentable.

[Aldisimo]

Most of the action in this thread was four years ago. I'd really like to see the finished kilt, and wonder how it's held up so far. Is there a photo somewhere around here?

These people are in the business of silk. They warn against expecting a good result from pleated silk.

[george7]

I've seen 'em in the flesh and they do manage to retain the masculinity of a wool kilt, with the advantage that your tallywhacker isn't rubbed raw whenever you walk more than 500yrds.
At that price Bubba you can afford to make one and see if it's OK. If it looks a bit girly sell it on ebay you'll get more than your money back. Win Win.
Cheers Rhino

This is Xmarksthescot, not Xmarks the guy who wears silk because his tallywacker gets rubbed wrong in a kilt.

[Galician]

This is Xmarksthescot, not Xmarks the guy who wears silk because his tallywacker gets rubbed wrong in a kilt.

Huh? Given the amount of discussion on here about "kilt rash"--especially by heavier/larger men, it doesn't seem to be a silly concern.

[Highlander31]

While I prefer to wear a tank or great kilt, I would like to see how a silk kilt (say that fast 10 times) looks and wears.

[beloitpiper]

WHOA! Talk about thread resurrection!

Umm, yeah I don't think I'd want (or even like to see) a silk kilt.