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Kilts and Kilt Wearing

Kilt wearing has gone through a revolution since the late 1990s.  Since then, male unbifurcated garments (MUGs, for short) have experienced a dramatic growth in popularity.  After a number of films in the mid-1990s starring well-known and popular actors wearing the tartan, there has not only been a growth in the popularity of the kilt itself, but also the development of a small number of kilt-based contemporary garments.

The most extreme tartan product, is a cut down version, popularly known as the 'sports' kilt, though even this is now made in non-tartan fabrics.  It is made with much less fabric, may or may not have any pleating, is often secured with Velcro or hooks and eyes rather than leather straps, and is not worn with a sporran.  While the full kilt, is made of roughly 9 yards of fabric, the sports kilt might have as little as 2 yards.  Sports kilts are generally made with fabric that has a mixture of fibres - man-made and synthetic.  At the most extreme, they will be 100% synthetic.

There are then a succession of products that offer every combination of these variations up to the 9yd, wool worsted, pleated, strapped, and be-sporraned, variety. [See the contemporary kilts notes below if you are thinking of investing.]

The traditional, full kilts, also have a few varieties.  The closest to the original highland wear, which was probably derived from garments worn by Vikings, was a single piece of fabric measuring 9 yards long and pleated by the wearer each time they put it on, and with the surplus fabric being worn over the shoulder.  Most modern, full kilts, use 8 yards of fabric, have the pleats sown carefully into them so that the lines of the tartan weave fall together either side of the pleat.  They don't have the extra fabric over the shoulder.  The length of these kilts is measured from the fullest part of the man's waist - usually just below the navel - to the lowest part of the knee when the wearer is kneeling.  This is usually up to 24.5".

Military kilts, fall slightly lower down the leg, and rise up to the waist.  They are quite distinctive and have a much more stylish flow when the wearer walks.  However, if you want to buy one, you'll either have to have one made-to-measure or get a second hand one.  As soldiers tend to be quite fit, most military kilts are only available in waists up to 34"!

One or two of the larger, and most well-known, kilt manufacturers have produced alternatives to the full kilt for contemporary fashion wear, but based on similar manufacturing practices.  For example, Kinloch Anderson produce the Breacan™, which is worn at the same place as trousers and has pockets in it, but is pleated in much the same way as a full kilt.

A very different kind of product, is the Utilikilt, made in the USA.  This has functional pockets and pouches, rather than a sporran, and is made in a variety of non-tartan fabrics - including US Air Force, and US Army camouflage fabrics!  There are now a number of cheaper imitators of the Utilikilt.

The Original "Great" Kilt

The Great Kilt is also known as the "breacan an fheilidh" or "feile mor". The first known reference to this mode of dress was made in 1594 in 'The Life of Red Hugh O’Donnell' in a description of a corps of Hebrideans who had come to The O’Donnell’s assistance: “They were recognised among the Irish soldiers by the distinction of their arms and clothing, their habits and language, for their exterior dress was mottled cloaks of many colours with a fringe to their shins and calves, their belts were over their loins outside their cloaks."

The Great Kilt was made from wool, often grown on your own sheep. It could take a year for someone to shear and spin enough wool to make one kilt. The yarn would then be taken to the local weaver to weave into cloth. Looms at the time typically wove a piece of cloth between 27" and 30" wide. Fairly obviously, cloth is easier to handle if the weight isn't too great, and so there was a limit to the practical length that would be woven while still keeping to 27" width.

Today when you buy cloth it comes on a bolt. The thinner the cloth, the more material on the bolt; the thicker the cloth, the less is on the bolt. A finely made silk might have 30 yards on the bolt, but once folded and wrapped, it would still be about 8" thick by 21"-30" long.

Wool is no different. To be able to carry and work with the cloth you wouldn't want much more than the same dimensions (8" thick on the bolt and 30" wide). The actual amount of the cloth needed to meet these dimensions varied a bit depending on the fineness of the thread used, the tightness of the weave, and the budget of the buyer. However, most lengths of wool ended up being about 9 ells long (just over 9 yards) but sometimes as much as 12. Any more would be too much to work with, not to mention extremely cumbersome to wear.

So a man wanting a Great Kilt would ask for "The Whole 9 Yards" or 9 ells, introducing the concept that a man must have 9 yards of cloth to make a Great Kilt. However, the tartan of ancient times was 27"-30" wide, so to make a Great Kilt, the 9 ells would be cut in half to create 2 pieces of tartan, single width (27"-30") wide by 4.5 ells long. These two pieces would then be stitched together to make 1 Kilt, 54"-60" wide and 4.5 ells long.

Today's looms weave cloth double width, 54"-61" wide, eliminating the extra step of buying 9 ells, cutting it in half and stitching the two pieces together lengthwise. You just take 4.5 yards/ells and don't need to do any cutting and stitching except to finish off the edges.

The Little Kilt

The Act for the Abolition and Proscription of Highland Dress provided that from 1st August 1747:

"... no man or boy within that part of Great Britain called Scotland, other than such as shall be employed as Officers and soldiers in His Majesty's Forces, shall, ... wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland Clothes ...

" ... the plaid, philabeg, or little kilt, trows, shoulder-belt, or any part whatsoever of what peculiarly belongs to the Highland Garb. ..." " ... every such person so offending ... shall suffer imprisonment ... and being convicted on the second offence shall be liable to be transported ... beyond the seas, there to remain for the space of seven years."

Some historians record that orders to the troops immediately after the passing of this Act were to "kill upon the spot any person whom they met dressed in the Highland Garb."

That Act was repealed in 1782. It was then that the little kilt or philabeg (the feileadh beag) grew in popularity rather than Great Plaid (the breacan feile or feileadh mor).

With the growth in interest in the kilt, as a fashion item, and earlier in the US especially for marching bands and groups/Masons/Clan gatherings/etc, a number of firms have been offering cheaper alternatives to the Little Kilt.

There are several variables worth considering if you are planning on buying one of these.  (Which are, nonetheless, an excellent way of deciding whether you are brave enough to wear a kilt outside the house!)

Firstly, the fabric itself varies.  Some manufacturers have broken with the pattern completely and are producing kilts but in a single colour fabric ranging from leather to wool and on to many different kinds of mixed fibre.  The more upmarket still weave a tartan, either in a limited range of tartan patterns, in a single colour, or with the Scottish Saltire cross or Irish rampant lion on an orange wool worsted.  Probably the most elegant I have seen was in a dark navy blue, with the tartan pattern weave, but in the single colour.

Secondly, the weight of the fabric varies.  Generally, the heavier the better if you are looking for authenticity, but not necessarily for practicality.  A traditional, pure wool, tartan has a weight of 16+oz per square yard.  The poorest quality tartan fabrics are as low as 10oz.  My own first adult kilt was supposed to be 12oz and it was absolutely fine for casual wear (especially in the summer/autumn).

Budget kilts are often made in far-away places - especially in India and Hong Kong.

They tend to come in a limited variety of tartans.  Mostly these will be the military tartans, especially Black Watch, which anyone can wear without fear of being inaccurate or rude to a member of a distinctive clan.  It would also be a bit naff to wear a particular tartan just because you liked that colour!

In the past ten years or so, there have also been a small number of additional tartans created that, again, can be worn by anyone.  For example, there's a 'Pride of Scotland' and, I believe, a 'Diana Princess of Wales Memorial' tartan.

A less obvious (to the wearer) variable is the quality of the pleating.  While it isn't hard to get a bit of a swing to the kilt, some cheaper variants don't create the pleats to the correct pattern.  An expensive kilt has the same colour pattern at the front as at the back, but the back achieves this despite the pleats.  In other words, the folded-in fabric is precisely folded to make it's absence invisible.  This is known as matching the set of the fabric.

To reduce the length of fabric, cheap kilts have smaller pleats.  Again, my first adult kilt had a pleat length from crest-to-crest of 6¼".  I've heard of some that have only 4".  This will dramatically affect the swing of the kilt.

The full 'little kilt' is generally fastened by straps on either side.  The left hand side has one strap which passes through a slot on the fabric from the inner fold to the outside.  On the right hand side there are two externally fixed straps.  All the straps are of leather and their quality, together with that of the buckles, will vary according to the quality of the kilt manufacturer.

Cheaper kilts, cheaper leather.  Very cheap kilts = very cheap leather to the point of being more like fibre-board.  And... another way of keeping cost down, is for there to be only one strap on the right hand side.

So, what to pay and where to buy.

Firstly, be realistic.  If you could pay £500, but choose to pay £100, or even £50, then you have to accept some difference in quality.  If you want the kilt for a specific wedding, then hire one!  If you want a simple day-kilt, for casual use, and you've never worn one before, then buy something cheap and see whether you can cope psychologically with wearing one.  Once you know that you are comfortable with doing so, you can buy a much better quality one.  Old full kilts have passed from one generation to the next, so they are a sound investment once you know that you like wearing them.

A search on the internet will reveal an extraordinary range of prices.  Reputable makers seem to start their full kilts at the £250 mark and then go upwards!  If they make the budget varieties (or more likely import and re-badge them with their own labels) then they tend to be priced at £100+.

Import companies, especially in the US, often offer kilts alongside other contemporary kilt-based products.  These begin around $125 and go upwards.  The Utilikilt, which is a unique product, commands a high price ($200+).

Budget companies (ie those that will never provide made-to-measure) offer budget kilts are in the range £30 to £80.

All that said, the best place to check for a really low price is eBay™!  Regular advertisers (with feedback scores in the hundreds) include one man in the US who has had an eastern tailor produce a limited range of kilts made for US marching bands etc based on a true full kilt pattern but in mixed fibre material, and these retail at £42 or so depending on exchange rates.  (But watch his postal charges, which to the UK add another £20 to the cost, and bear in mind that the customs people will add their duty on that.)

You'll find many advertisers offering 10-12oz kilts, of around 4 to 6 yards of mixed fibre material, in two or three tartans, bundled with a sporran and a belt, for £40-£45.  If you rush in, you'll take the price there, but as I was writing this I managed to get two kilts sets like this (with socks too) for £16 from a UK-based seller!

I could witter on about the sporrans and the belts for pages too and maybe I will one day, but most of the quality principles apply to these too.  Belts are only really worn in a semi-formal setting, so they are a bit of a red-herring as you probably won't be wearing them much of the time, and certainly not to the rugby or football match.  You won't see as many belts on eBay on their own, and those that do sell for about £15 for a basic one.

Similarly priced, basic day-sporrans sell for £15+.  A day sporran is made of plain leather, and may have three matching leather toggles on it.  They are usually 6-8" in height and the same across.  (Children's sporrans are usually small day sporrans with two leather toggles.)  A formal, or dress, sporran will be based on leather but generally has a fur body and a metal 'cantle' - the bit that opens to get inside.  Semi-formal sporrans either lack the fur or lack the cantle. 

Some dress sporrans look more like a hearth rug or bathroom mat!  At the most extreme are the ones worn by marching bands.  An antique British military dress sporran in good condition can sell for £120 or more.

If you do your sums you'll see that a kilt set, with a kilt, sporran (£15) and belt (£15), selling at £45 on eBay means that the kilt costs £15 too.  If you would normally spend £20+ on a pair of basic jeans, it puts the pricing (and quality) of the kilt into perspective!

One last accessory to mention is the kilt-pin.  Fixed down on the lower right hand edge, this stops the kilt flapping open in the wind.  A plain one looks more like a large safety pin and would be appropriate for day wear.  Fancy ones, typically have clan crests superimposed on a Scottish broadsword on them.  Rumour has it that it was Queen Victoria who began the trend of wearing kilt-pins when she spotted a young soldier much embarrassed when his flew open on parade and so she went over and fastened his kilt with a hat pin!

E: graham@gunn.freeuk.com