Gauging interest in a Contemporary Style Kilt Kamp

[The Wizard of BC]

Hello Folks,

With the dates for this year's Kilt Kamp in New York set, (12- 17 July 2020) I would like to gauge the amount of interest there is in holding the Contemporary Kilt Making Kilt Kamp.


Many people, when hearing "Contemporary Kilt" for the first time, automatically think of the Utilitly style like the Utilikilt.

This could not be further from the truth.

I do not say that the Contemporary Kilt is a new invention. I prefer to think of it as a continuation of 200 years of refinement and innovation.

I define the Contemporary Kilt as "A kilt that has evolved to suit the needs of today's kilt wearer".

On the street most people cannot see any difference between a Contemporary kilt and any other worn by the military or a pipe band.

I say that the evolution of the garment into the Contemporary style is based on four things. I call them the DFF&P difference.

The "D" stands for Durability.

The men today who want to wear a kilt more often than the annual Burn's Dinner or Highland Games, those who want to wear their kilt for activities other than a wedding for formal event, need their clothing to last.
"Durability equals longevity."
The increasing of Durability includes things like fully enclosing any raw edges of fabric to prevent fraying.
Deleting the left side hole in the kilt which causes a weak point prone to failure.
The deleting of the left hole allows the floating interfacing and the stabilizer strip to be extended to the full circumference of the kilt.
This extension allows the interfacing and stabilizer to be sewn as one, integral unit. You are wearing the interfacing and stabilizer allowing the outer Tartan fabric to drape naturally.
Increasing of the outer apron facings to provide backing for kilt pins to prevent them from damaging the outer fabric.
And the building on an integral, internal belt to which the straps and buckles are firmly anchored preventing stresses of wearing to be transferred to the outer fabric or the stitching.

The first "F" stands for Fit.

The iconic kilts are all designed to fit at the anatomical waist. The length to bottom of the Fell Area and to the lower Selvedge edge are all based on this higher waist fashion style.
But very few men today have ever worn anything at their anatomical waist. Many cannot even find it if asked.
The Iconic kilt is one of the very few garments where the wearer must adapt his expectations to the design of the garment. The Contemporary kilt adapts the design of the garment to the wearers wishes.
The Contemporary kilt allows the wearer to decide where he wants to wear the waist of his kilt, where he wishes to wear the bottom selvedge, and adapts the design accordingly.

The second "F" stands for Fabric.

The Contemporary kilt is not defined by one fabric so we can adjust and adapt the design for almost any fabric.
You can, of course, make your kilt out of kilt wool. But, if you wish, you can also make your kilt from something other than premium, expensive Tartan fabric.
Would you like to take advantage of the machine washable Poly/Rayon blends?
Do you need a rugged, durable Poly/Cotton fabric to go hiking or paintball?
Or do you want the premium kilt wool for those most important events in your life?
With a Contemporary kilt it is you, the person making the kilt, and what you want to do in your kilt, that are the deciding factors.

And finally we arrive at the "P". This stands for Pockets.

What other male garment can you name that does not have pockets?
The Contemporary kilt making evolution allows a kilt to have as many pockets as the wearer needs without sacrificing the look of the kilt.
Contemporary kilt pockets are designed to be invisible when the kilt is worn.
They should hold what the wearer needs to carry without bulging or distorting the outer look of the kilt.

Over the past couple hundred years there have been thousands of very talented kilt makers. Each trying to find a way to have their product stand apart from the rest. After all this time no one can say that there is any one, single, way to make a kilt.
The kilt has always been evolving and adapting to the vagaries of fashion, new construction techniques, and new materials.

The Contemporary Style Kilt is just a continuation of this evolution without loosing that famous swish. "Swish + Swagger = Swoon.

Until 2019 there was always a Contemporary Kilt Making class as part of Kilt Kamp. 2019 was the single exception as we did not have enough students sign up to cover the cost for me to fly out to Barb's place in New York.

So - I am asking how many would be interested in a Contemporary Kilt Kamp held in conjunction with the Traditional Kilt Kamp?

We would need a minimum of 5 confirmed students to make it cost effective. With a maximum of 8 students due to the size of our room.

Students may choose to hand stitch their Contemporary kilt or, if they are willing to provide their own sewing machine, sew their kilt by machine for the maximum durability.

All costs and arrangements will be exactly the same as Barb has posted for the Traditional Kilt Kamp.




If you are interested in attending, and can confirm your attendance, to the Contemporary Kilt Kamp please reply to this posting.

[Mike in Dayton]

Happy to see plans are in the works for another Kilt Kamp. In the past I have alternated between Barb's traditional and your contemporary class. I like to do something different each time. Previous in your class I have done PV or poly/cotton. What I have not done is a machine sewn wool kilt. I have always gone traditional hand sewn with wool. So this time it would be a machine sewn contemporary wool kilt. Put me down for your class.

I would encourage others that have any interest in making kilts to take advantage of the opportunity to take either Barb's or Steve's class. Your not going to get this level of training anywhere else.

Mike