Poll: What do you use your belt loops for?

[Hamish]

Belt loops? Why, for belts of course! 98% of my kilts have loops. My sporran straps sit quite happily just below the loops and therefore the belt and, if worn at the correct height, the sporran itself never slips - it can also be quickly moved to one side or the other without the buckle and keeper becoming caught up in the loops (which happens if the strap is worn through them!).

When I first began wearing the kilt, back in the early 1950s, I made enquiries of as many Highland Dress retailers as possible and studied photographs in their catalogues and elsewhere - there were no internet sites to consult! The advice I was given in this connection and the evidence I saw for myself was that the belt went through the loops and the sporran strap remained outside. This was also, as far as I could tell, how they were worn with uniforms on military parades.

No way would I ever feed a sporran strap through those loops!

Take care,
Ham.

[JerseyLawyer]

I tried it with nothing through the loops this weekend. That works just fine, too, though I'm not changing my vote.

[pdcorlis]

Phil Corlis wrote: “If a kilt is shipped to me with loops, I take my stitch picker and remove them.”

That seems the sensible thing to do. I was wondering, though, what the lower loop would be for.
Regards,
Mike

Sorry mate, lower strap on the right hip. Not really necessary, and in some cases it can distort the shape of the kilt apron.

Cheers

Phil

[KEArnold]

Both or belt although I have gotten away from a sporran belt and wear the newer front loops with chain to hang my sporran. It's more comfortable and easier to work with in casual situations. I made mine from an old sporran belt - clipped the chain short to fit, cut, folded and riveted the belts to make belt loops and I'm done.

[Macman]

I sometimes use the loops (if they are there) for the belt, sometimes not, but in almost forty years of wearing the kilt, I've never put the sporran strap through the loops. Not right, not wrong, but just how I learned it when I bought my first kilt from an old Scottish gentleman.

[Hendry]

I have removed the belt loops altogether on some of my kilts that had them

[Tobus]

Sorry mate, lower strap on the right hip. Not really necessary, and in some cases it can distort the shape of the kilt apron.

Cheers

Phil

Although I'm no expert on kilt-making (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), I have found that the hip strap helps conform the kilt to the shape of your body. Without it, the kilt is only held up by - and suspended from - the top straps and kilt belt. Those top straps only apply a cinching force at the very top, relying mostly on friction to keep the kilt up, but they do nothing to keep the lower part of the fell snug to the hips and distributing the load of the wool around the back where all the weight of the pleats are. The hip strap helps keep the kilt in its proper place and draping properly, via this load distribution effect.

Does this make the hip strap "necessary"? Well, no. Of course not. But it does, in my opinion, make for a more comfortable and better-fitting kilt. I have kilts with the hip strap and without, and I find the hip strap to make a huge difference.

Of course, my disclaimer will be that a lot depends on the construction of the kilt, the shape of the wearer's body, and so on and so forth. I know some of the well-known kilt-makers have suggested that it's desirable to go without the hip strap, and I won't attempt to refute their experience or expertise. But for many folks, I think the hip strap makes for an overall better kilt.

If it's distorting the shape of the kilt apron, it may be a result of the kilt not being fitted properly, or the hip strap being installed too low.

[freddie]

I only use 'em for my belt, and only with my longer kilts (higher rise). I've tried putting the sporran strap through them but find that it hangs too low (I don't have hips!).
Also, if they aren't supposed to be for your belt why are they so wide, the width of a kilt belt????

[Whidbey78]

According to Hammish I'm half right. After reading his post I moved my sporran strap outside the loops. He's right...moving the sporran to one side is less of a pain, and the strap isn't pulling on them.

I won't say I've changed my ways. I'm going to try it for a while and see how it works for me. I'll see how it works when I go on a fairly strenuous hike and really get moving.

[figheadair]

Never had belt loops on any kilt, completely unnecessary, never wear a separate belt, nor sporran straps or chains. A slim belt from which my sporran hangs is all that's required to stop the latter from falling off. The rest looks after itself.