Kilt belt

[walkerk]

Initially had a waist plate belt with the inside adjusting buckle. The wee buckle was an annoyance in my side and figured that if I could feel it, it must be digging into the kilt, too. Passed it on to a needy kiltie. Got the Velcro type in both black and brown and couldn't be happier.

[OC Richard]

I am intrigued by all the guys that don't wear that style of belt. I thought it was de rigueur, classic, traditional, etc.

I'm pretty sure you are right. I've seen dozens and dozens of traditional Scottish-made civilian dirk belts from Victorian ones to recent ones, dozens from the 1920s through the 1970s, and as best as I can recall they've all been made that way, with the small internal strap and buckle.

These have traditionally been made in two widths: the wide ones worn by Army pipers since the 1840s and by civilian pipers too, and the narrower ones worn with Montrose doublets (and their ilk) since at least the 1920s, and worn by non-pipers in the Scottish regiments in various form of dress. (The Cameron Highlanders pipers were an exception to the above.)

The belts for both were made the same.

I don't like mixing Velcro with wool, for obvious reasons!

No the little buckle inside doesn't cause any wear. Like with everything else in Highland Dress, there are probably current Pakistani made ones that have rough edges not found on legitimate ones.

Here are the two traditional belt widths, alive and well in the Army

[Eric D Scott]

So when I just wear my non-full dress ceremonial dress I wear the 'traditional' belted belt on my kilt, however when I wear my doublet, that same kilt belt moves up from around the kilt (waist) to around the doublet (above the waist) therefore the kilt itself has no belt on it. Hope that makes sense, although that was too much extra info I'm sure.

[MacCathail]

Like some of the others, I have one but seldom wear it. I usually wear a waistcoat or a sweater of some sort.

The buckle that goes with the belt is really a beautiful piece of work and I'm often complimented on it when I wear it. But it's heavy. So when it's too hot for a waistcoat or sweater, it's usually too warm to bother with a heavy belt either. It gets saved for special occasions. And, yes, it has the little internal buckle but in 35 years or so of kilt-wearing it's never damaged a kilt.

Cheers,

-John-

[OC Richard]

BTW, the traditional civilian dirk belts worn since the early 20th century with the Montrose doublet and its ilk were most often seen in two patterns, both still widely available, the thistle



and celtic



and less commonly a pattern using the extremely old (Neolithic) motif of concentric circles






The wide 'pipers belts' were usually seen in these patterns, '355' and '102'; unlike so many things in THD this was not a misnomer but, in fact, pipers were the only soldiers to wear these wide black belts in the Army