Clan Chiefs Pleating Preferences

[raibeart_dubh]

The recent Keepers of the Kingdom thread got me thinking today.

What do some of the various Clan Chiefs prefer when it comes to pleating, stripe or sett? What do they view as traditional?

Looking at photos of the Marquess of Huntly, His Grace the Duke of Argyll, His Grace the Duke of Atholl, and other Chiefs got me wondering what do they prefer, since I do look to them for some inspiration for my own styles. I haven't yet uncovered any pleat shots of Chiefs, so I thought maybe some of our learned scholars here might shed some light on this issue.

[Bruce Scott]

I can't help with specifics on any Chief's preference, but my understanding is that pleating to the stripe is the military tradition.

[Monkey@Arms]

I haven't yet uncovered any pleat shots of Chiefs, so I thought maybe some of our learned scholars here might shed some light on this issue.

I'm sure we can find pleat shots, but just to be clear as far as I'm concerned the only member of this forum that qualifies as a "learned scholar" of kilts is Matt Newsome, Member of the International Guild of Tartan Scholars, director of the Scottish Tartans Museum. Everyone else is just opinionated.

Best regards,

Jake

[JSFMACLJR]

The chiefs I have met all wear the kilt pleated to the sett, at least on the occasions I have been with them, although the Duke of Atholl when in the uniform of his regiment wears the Murray kilt pleated to the stripe.

I am reluctant to say "most" ( I'll let Jock Scot wade in here), but a "goodly percentage" of Highland gentlemen wear the kilt pleated to the sett.

[raibeart_dubh]

The chiefs I have met all wear the kilt pleated to the sett, at least on the occasions I have been with them, although the Duke of Atholl when in the uniform of his regiment wears the Murray kilt pleated to the stripe.

I was thinking that the Duke of Atholl would go with pleating to the stripe, being the commander of the only private army in Europe and all. It is interesting to know the ones you have met tend to go with the sett. I know military pleating was long the tradition but I was really interested to know what the chiefs chose today. Thanks for the info!

[The Barry]

All of the pics that I've seen (outside of military uniform) of chiefs have featured chiefs in kilts pleated to the sett. Then again, I haven't seen that many pics of chiefs in their kilts.

[Jock Scot]

Nearly all civilian kilts in Scotland are pleated to the sett and I doubt if any one, Chiefs included, ever give it a thought. In truth, I have never looked. In uniform, the Duke of Atholl, I think, along with his Highlanders wear the kilt pleated to the stripe. I will check when I am at the annual parade at Blair Castle ,in a couple of weeks.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Just as a point of interest, pleating to the sett is a fashion that is really only about a century old. In 1901 when Erskine wrote his The Kilt and How to Wear It, he wrote of this pleating style "that revealed the whole tartan" as a new and novel thing, which he didn't even have a name for.

Eventually, pleating to the sett became the most common style for civilian kilts, while the military retained pleating to the stripe. This is why most people think of pleating to the stripe as "military" or "regimental" pleating; but in truth there is absolulte no reason why a civilian couldn't choose to have his kilt pleated that way, as well.

I have my kilts pleated to the stripe simply because I like the look of it, not because of any military connotation.

I'd hazard a guess that most clan chiefs these days have their kilts pleated to sett, only because, as Jock Scot said, most kilts these days are pleated to sett. But I wouldn't read anything into it in terms of signifigance or meaning. It's just the most common fashion these days.

[raibeart_dubh]

It's just the most common fashion these days.

That's what I was wondering, if the chiefs prefered the old fashion or the, comparatively speaking, new fashion.

Thanks to everyone for their replies!

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Along the same lines of questioning-- I vaguely recall something about the size of the sett being different for chiefs... another raisin in the Victorian pudding, or is there some latent truth to this?