Waist Placement

[davecolorado72]

Ok, so i've seen guys with their kilt up high and with their kilt down low on their waist. As long as the length of it doesn't extend too far down (as to look skirt-ish) does it really matter where on your waist you wear it? I find it really uncomfortable when I wear it up high. Just doesn't feel right. Im sure alot is personal preference but I don't want to be hit hard by the kilt-nazis when I am out and about

Share any thoughts you have.

slainte'

[SteveB]

The "waist" placement isn't the issue - - - Its the Hem placement that is important. The hem should be between the center of the knee and just at the top of the knee. (preference) Some kilts are real waist - worn above the naval. Some kilts are jeans waist and worn on the hips. Most of the formal kilts will be of the naval waist variety, and the casual kilts will tend to be of the hip variety. The male body comes in many shapes and sizes. Although I am short, my legs are real short and I am long through the torso. Therefore I wear a 24" length kilt. My cousin is a lot taller, and wears a 22.5" length kilt to achieve the same look, due to long legs and short (almost no) torso length. The kilt police don't really exist. Go for it.

[davecolorado72]

That makes sense. I didn't realize the difference in casual/formal lengths. I have a few kilts but have never worn them in a formal fashion. Just out and about. And I have a sport kilt that I wear for hurling and other sports. Will have to pay more attention to each individual one and where they land on my knee.

And I beg to differ on the police, i've witnessed it

[JamieKerr]

I wear mine more on the hips. My asthma makes me strongly dislike any constrictive pressure on my chest. I think the only part of the positioning that matters is where the length falls. No mini kilt, and no floor length dress!

[davecolorado72]

No disrespect to the guys that wear em up high but it makes me feel like my grandpa when he wore his pants too high.

[McClef]

Yes the hem is the more determining factor.

Most kilt lengths work on the rise being mid to slightly above the navel.

Military kilts work on a higher rise as standard but I haven't come across many "civilian" ones that do.

[Pleater]

It's all about what looks right - if you can wear a garment without any part of it attracting particular notice then you have it right.

I think that the low slung kilts are just about OK on someone thin, but with a loose shirt and no jacket they look untidy on anyone. There should be enough kilt to look right in proportion to the body wearing it, and hanging it at the right level can make the wearer look better.

Sometimes the high rise, particularly with a wide belt can be too much - they convert a normal kilt to something costume-y.

For everyone there will be a particular length and placing which is most flattering to their body shape, and (if worn) the width of belt and size of buckle will, if chosen properly, enhance the look.

[Larry124]

I have read that it is not uncommon for many men to find that as they age their body shape changes
The belly becomes more rounded -- even in men who are not overweight and who have normal muscle tone in their midsection I’ve heard it referred to as a return to a young boy's shape.
It becomes more comfortable to wear garments at either a lower or higher waist than in youth/mid-life.

A low waist can look just as unattractive as a high one.

I suppose that ideally an “in person” fitting by an expert would yield not only the best fit for waist, hips, and length but also for the length and fit above the waist.

With casual standard size kilts to me the fall to the top of the knee is everything. The waist is…wherever it is.
My task then is in belting the kilt in such a way that it neither rides up or down.
This may be a situation where a wide belt serves better than say a 1.75-inch belt.
Maybe why I favor "pirate" style 3-inch belts.

[Jack Daw]

...my legs are real short and I am long through the torso. Therefore I wear a 24" length kilt.

Same here with the Popeye body. I wear a 24" length, too. The top of the kilt waist is about 2-1/2" above the navel. It's one of the things that I like about wearing a kilt - it makes my trunk look shorter.

[Barb T]

Actually, whether you wear the kilt at the waist _does_ matter. A kiltmaker who makes a properly made trad kilt makes the smallest part of the kilt at the center line of the buckle, with the kilt flaring a little from there to the top of the kilt so that, when the kilt is buckled tightly, it stays put at the waist and sits properly in the small of the back. Even if a kiltmaker doesn't flare the kilt a little in the rise, the kilt will be made straight from the center of the buckle to the top of the kilt without any additional taper. So, if you wear the kilt lower than your waist, the top of the kilt doesn't fit properly if you try to buckle it over your hips.

Remember that a kilt is a traditional garment made to be worn in a certain way - in this case, with the short jacket that was popular in the 19th century. The jackets were short enough that, if the kilt weren't worn at the waist and if it didn't have a rise (back then typically 3-4"), there'd be an unsightly gap between the top of the kilt and the bottom of the jacket, especially when the wearer bent over. Even though men now wear kilts with lots of different kinds of tops, the design of the kilt has changed only in the height of the rise (now about 2").

So, many of the guys on this forum have said many times that you just have to get used to it. Once you're used to wearing a kilt where it's made to be worn, you don't notice that it feels different than your pants do. It just starts to feel like a kilt.

Also, if you have a "bit of a corporation" and you wear a trad kilt below your tummy, it won't hang right and will actually accentuate the fact that you have a belly, because you get big swales in the apron. If you browse around a bit in "Show me your pics", you'll find pics of some of our larger gentlemen wearing their kilts properly, and the apron of the kilt is nice and smooth. Wearing a kilt properly actually has a slimming effect.

So, realize that I'm talking about trad kilts. Contemporary kilts are commonly made to be worn lower. But, if you own a properly made trad kilt, it will only look right and fit right if you wear it as high as it was meant to be worn.

The two kilts below are worn properly high, at the waist. You can also see in this profile view that, if they were worn too low, they actually wouldn't be big enough around because they are made to fit around the waist.