For kilt leingth are you measuring from your navel , or higher up ?

**Stan** · 11th April 13, 06:42 PM

Just a short question.

On several made to measure kilt web sites, it says that for top of the length measurement you need to measure from your navel, others say from above the navel.

I want to buy a new 7 yard 16 oz. wool traditional kilt from Scotweb, and I'm not sure where to start from. Not a hard question, but (for me) an essential / important one.

Thanks for the help.

Stan L.

**Steve Ashton** · 11th April 13, 06:46 PM

While specifically made for my style of kilt this video is a good explanation of the heights for a kilt.

Please note that the navel height is different for different guys. it is far less reliable than the skeletal true waist.

but if your kiltmaker asks you to measure at the navel then do so.

**Stan** · 11th April 13, 07:05 PM

Thanks for the video Steve. It was great, and we've (you and I) have just successfully measured for my new kilt. I really appreciate it. LOL..

Stan L.

**unixken** · 11th April 13, 08:30 PM

And Scotweb has their own video for measuring.
http://www.scotweb.co.uk/info/how-to...l-8-yard-kilt/

**tadyergey** · 12th April 13, 05:09 AM

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

**McElmurry** · 12th April 13, 07:56 AM

Every kiltmaker has their own way of measuring and you should use your kiltmaker's method. For instance I was once measured from the top of the hipbone to mid knee as a proxy for the true waist to the top of knee. That's just the way that kiltmaker did it.

**Pleater** · 12th April 13, 11:10 AM

Whilst it is no bad thing to have your measurements to hand - for that fateful day you see a kilt on eBay for a bargain price with 4 minutes to go - you really need to check the measurements requested by the maker.

I well remember the dismay on finding out that I had made a cloak far too short for someone who, rather than giving me her total height, had measured from nape of neck to ankle - even though I had drawn an outline sketch of a person with lines and arrows. Then there was the empire line - as seen in films of Jane Austen novels, with a skirt far too long as 'length from natural waist' had been measured from under the bust.

Sigh.

So do check on the website or order form what measurements are required and rely on the maker to use them to make the kilt you require.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

**Tobus** · 12th April 13, 11:29 AM

I don't think I'd buy a kilt from a kiltmaker who wanted me to measure from my navel. It's one thing if they use the navel to help you locate your natural waist (as in, "it should be just above the line where your navel is"), but if they're basing the measurement off the navel alone, it means their method isn't likely to fit people the same from kilt to kilt. Since, of course, the navel isn't in the same place on everyone.

I much prefer to deal with kiltmakers who are clear about how a kilt should fit at the natural waist, and then tell you what the rise will be above it, as well as the drop below it. If there's any confusion on what they're telling you or what they're asking for, it's a "Danger, Will Robinson!" signal.

**The Wizard of BC** · 12th April 13, 11:36 AM

As a kiltmaker we often have a customer come in and comment that they thought the proper way to measure for a kilt was with the customer on their knees.
Because of this, it is commonly thought that when kneeling, that the hem of the kilt should just brush the ground.

This is one of the enduring myths of kiltmaking. I've even heard that this was for kneeling in church. You would not kneel on the hem of your kilt.

In fact it is a kiltmakers trick.

If you remember, a kilt has a rise, or that portion of the kilt which is above the top straps.
This part of the kilt should flare back out to fit over the ribs. This rise is usually 2 inches.
Some kiltmakers, like Barb, measure for a kilt, from the center of the top strap to the kneecap. They then add 2" for the Rise.
The total length of the kilt is the Rise + 2 inches.

If you have a customer kneel for measurements, and take the distance from the natural waist, down to the floor, you can use this distance as the total length of the kilt.

But when you actually make the kilt you put the straps two inches down from the top.
When the wearer puts the kilt on, with the straps at the natural waist, the top of the kilt is now two inched above the natural waist.
This in effect would raise the hem up the same two inches.

The result would be a hem two inches off the ground when kneeling.

You can actually try this if you have a full traditionally made kilt with a 2" rise and a hem right at the top of your kneecap.
Take the kilt off and kneel down on the floor. Hold the kilt up with the waistband at your natural waist. The hem should be just brushing the floor.

Now put the kilt on and kneel down again. Viola, the hem is now 2 inches off the floor. Just like magic.

**Barb T** · 12th April 13, 01:52 PM

I can't emphasize enough that you should use the specific instructions given to you by your kiltmaker. Do NOT try second guess or use measurements that you had for a different kilt. Each kiltmaker uses measurements differently, and giving a kiltmaker measurements that you think are the way they should be taken could easily give you a kilt that is 2" too long or too short.