Why do kilts rise?

[toadinakilt]

My question is this...and maybe our lovely XMarks ladies have some insights, considering they wear skirts. At least I think they do...sometimes...anyway.

Do skirts have as much of a problem with rising and exposing as kilts seem to? I was thinking abut kilt fabric weights, and how anything below 11 oz seems to be a bad idea, and then I was thinking, well, some girls around here wear skirts that are obviously light weight, but don't ever seem to rise when there's a gust, just billow about some.

Is the amount of fabric that contributes so much to a kilt also its downfall? I mean, if you have a heaping helping of fabric, it seems logical that it would catch and hold gusts of wind better...but maybe I'm very wrong in this.

I don't know. Who wants to speculate? Anybody?

[Iolaus]

[Southern Breeze]

That sums it up rather nicely.Nuff' said.

[Yaish]

What a treat, to scroll down and see that picture not once, but twice. Made a bad day better.

On the other hand, when comparing a kilt to a modern knee length womans skirt remember the kilt has pleats, and thus much more material to allow it to float and rise compared to a tight fitting skirt.

[chasem]

I presume it's basically the reasons stated. Much less material to catch wind (in pleated skirts). And many skirts aren't pleated at all, just wrapped around (basically) and therefore have little slack to be caught and moved by the wind.

I was at church once with the girlfriend, and she had on a skirt that was pleated all the way down. It was a windy day, and we walked outside. She had to catch the skirt that had come flying up and walk the rest of the way to the car holding the skirt down. So it does happen

[Shay]

Yep- if I'm wearing a plated skirt, the pleats can act like little sails and lift up the skirt.

Not often, and not high- I actually worry more about tucking my skirt into my pantyhose than having it go up in a breeze.

[Archangel]

well, miss pirate kitty, the mind boggles, at least the pantyhose problem is not one of mine.

The other thing that may be a factor, and Hamish alluded to this in another thread, is that women have more experience with skirts and winds. The "pool of knowledge" is deeper here and the men don't learn this. (Except in Scotland where the men don't care and sheep keep their eyes averted.)

We're doing it by trial and error, maybe we should be mathematical like we're accused of. What is the wind speed that lifts a kilt? Each weight of kilt?
What streets have wind tunnel effects? (In London, the north/south streets, particularly Wellington between Dundas and King, are scary.)

It has been very windy the last few days and I actually caught myself thinking that I'll go over to the Catholic school and see how the kilted girls walk in the wind. Then I caught myself. That would be a bad thing. Imagine trying to explain that to anybody...my wife!? But it's not like living a few blocks from Redford barracks and seeing the kilties parade through the neighbourhood every few days. (Do they still do that?)

[Southern Breeze]

Yep- if I'm wearing a plated skirt, the pleats can act like little sails and lift up the skirt.

Not often, and not high- I actually worry more about tucking my skirt into my pantyhose than having it go up in a breeze.

If you go regimental,what's there to tuck into??

[Dreadbelly]

Oh stop blaming the wind. We all know the real reason why our kilts rise.

It's that lunch of beer, franks, and saurkraut. Or that heaping bowlful of spinach and artichoke dip and chips.

For me, it was four ears of corn on the cob, vegetarian baked beans, and 3 sections of corn bread. And some fried squash.

[Riverkilt]

Its usually windy where I live. I have to pay attention to my kilts. But have also had my kilt in my face walking over an unexpected grate on a calm day.

The area I live is called "The Windy Mesa." I watch women in skirts and frequently see them holding their skirts down when the wind is up. They put their arms straight down to their sides.

I've learned the hard way that there are areas to be especially wind cautious when kilted. Entering or exiting a building....standing near a van or a truck...and boating.

What has helped me more than anything is to go hiking in the wind and let the wind do whatever it wants to to my kilt. I just let it blow. That lets me learn the limits without offending anyone.

I have some pics of "wind accidents" that quick photographers have caught, but they're a bit beyond the boundaries of this board :-(

Has been my experience that kilt pins and sporrans help a lot. There's just nothing to hold the backside of the kilt down in the right wind. Have had embarrassing moments for both front and back of kilts though.

Only once have I changed out of a kilt and into pants when the wind was high. That was because we were headed to a sacred Hopi dance on Third Mesa and I didn't want to offend the Kachinas. Ironically, the Kachina dancers were wearing deer skin skirts, but they were heavy enough to avoid any wind problems and the dance was held inside a town square that blocked the wind. Had I known it would be that windy down there I'd have worn one of my leather kilts too.

Never a dull moment when kilted in the wind.

Ron