|
|
|
When is a kilt really a kilt?
A kilt is a kilt, is a kilt ! or When is a Kilt! My interest in the question is so that you, our customer look great and feel comfortable and confident when you attend a Highland event dressed in your kilt. The question these days and the confusion you are feeling is, so many places are trying to tell you what a kilt is, and what kilt isn’t. Taking a look at few other web sites I have noticed those that sell the poly viscose kilts, or many of the other things that some companies are selling as kilts go to great lengths to justify or at least re-define the definition of a kilt. We see it in many places these days and in all kinds of situations that people take a common word that all of us thought we knew the definition of, and all of a sudden the word has a new definition. This helps legitimize their attempt at selling whatever there selling whether it be a product, an idea, or a cause. I will try to stay on subject here, if you have read my Blog " Plaid to the Bone" then you know I have a very off-kilter view of life. But the idea here is to help you make a educated and well informed decision about your kilt purchase. Here I will stay on the definition of a "Traditional Kilt" , and when we say that, what does it mean. We at The Kilt & Thistle have been in the business for over ten years, many of our customers however are older gentlemen in their fifties, sixties, and seventies. Many of them immigrated from the United Kingdom and have been wearing kilts there entire lives. It is from them, my observations at the many kilted events I attend, retired Highland soldiers and a continuing research I do as I have a fanatic interest in Scottish history. Whether a kilt is traditional or not is unimportant, what you want is to look like you are supposed to. Some of our customers , before they were customers, have made the mistake of buying the fifty dollar kilt on Ebay. We have seen these kilts, and they do not look good at all. Many of our customers were just plain embarrassed when they wore it to a highland event and it looked out of place. So the word traditional should be replaced with normal or the standard by which we judge whether a kilt is a kilt or something else. The kilt made the biggest change in appearance from the great kilt to the little kilt or philibeg as they call it. The great kilt being the garment you see in the movie Braveheart , the big piece of fabric wrapped around the waist and a bit of it thrown over the shoulder. The short kilt is what is the standard today. Short, meaning less fabric, not
necessarily where it falls on the leg. Today the common kilt contains eight
yards of fabric. That is the amount for an average guy, and yes that amount does
vary with the mans size. Some years ago one of the major kilt makers started
making what they called a casual kilt with about four yards of fabric. This was
primarily for Highland Athletes and the requirement that they wear a kilt to
compete. They were looking for lighter weight for the hot summers that we hold
our Highland Games in. Since then most of the major kilt makers, and all of the
ones we use are making a version of this. Now the kilt is made with the same
weight and quality of 100% wool fabric, just fewer yards. The difference is in
the depth of the pleats, the pleats on the casual or four yard kilt is much
shallower than on the eight yard kilt. When you look at two men wearing the two
different kilts, standing still there is little visual difference. For more of
an explanation of these two go to
www.kilts.com/my_kilt.htm So where did the confusion start. There is a very successful company called Utilikilt. There web site states they started in April of 2000. It is a terrific product. But the company will be the first one to tell you they are " a range of non-traditional styles and sizes. " as they themselves describe their product. It is not a kilt. However if they were to have called it UtiliDress, they would have been far less successful. The next entrant to the mix was Sportkilt. A cotton garment, dyed to look like plaid and pleated in the back and held on by Velcro. They look like the flannel pajamas of kilts. The word unbifircated then popped up and the rage was anything that was unbifircated was a kilt. The web site kiltguys.com ( not the the real name ) spends an amazing amount of energy trying to make anything , including ladies skirts, seem like a kilt. So we have gone from 8 yards of fabric to a Sarong as all being the same as a kilt. This is the very same logic as A table has four legs, and a dog has four legs, so therefore a dog is a table. You see my point. Do not make the mistake that just because someone calls something a kilt, dosen’t make it a kilt. There are many fine products out there as people make garments out of polyviscose and canvas. They are what they are. But real kilts are wool, they are pleated in the back, they are held on by straps and buckles, they are worn from the trop of the belly button, to the top of the knee. The other guys can call there dog a table because it has four legs, but it is still a dog.
|
|
To Place orders e-mail orders@kilts.com
or Toll free US and Canada call 1-800-992-KILT (5458)
Send comments about this sites technical issues to webmaster@kilts.com
with questions or comments.
|
