Question about waistband

[Oddern]

I have seen a few pics of kilts with a single color waistband, mainly green. Is it cotton or wool?
Is it a part of the lining?
Why is it used?
It looks like it is used on heavy kilt, am I right?
Can anyone enlighten me on this?

[Mipi]

Don't have all answers, but I believe one reason to have single colour band is lack of fabric. If you don't have enough fabric to cover whole length of kilt. It's not the part of lining, just made as tartan waistband is made.

There could be some other reasons, but I'm not aware of them.

[Bugbear]

Puffer and I discussed this once. I think on kilts pleated to the stripe, sometimes a waistband of wool twill is used rather than tartan. I'm not sure that it is always a result of a shortcut.

[Pleater]

Could this be the green binding used on the top edge of some military kilts?

It can look rather out of place where it doesn't blend with the tartan or the shirt - but it was perhaps never intended to be on view.

Personally I'd be inclined to get to work with some felt tip pens and colour it in so it blends better.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Anne is correct, this is a feature found on military kilts. It has nothing to do with what weight wool the kilt is in, or whether the kilt is pleated to sett or to stripe. It's an MoD thing.

For example, you could order a kilt in Black Watch, 18 oz regimental weight cloth, pleated to stripe, just like the regimental kilts are pleated, and it would come with a matching tartan band just like any other kilt you ordered; but if you found a military surplus kilt on Ebay, it would have a green band.

Here are some military kilts I found with a quick Google image search, all showing the green waist band.








Now, someone will no doubt ask WHY military kilts have a solid green waistband. That, unfortunately, I do not know. I only know that they do. :-)

Other times you may encounter a solid waist band might be when a kilt has been altared and the original tartan waistband is not long enough to be reattached to the kilt. For example, I just rebuilt a kilt for a gentleman and, after the remake, the waistband was a few inches too short for the new kilt. His cloth was custom woven for him many years ago in an unusual tartan, so there was absolutely no way I could get another long strip for the waistband. So he got a solid black one, instead.

Unusually in the case of rebuilds or alterations when the original tartan waistband cannot be use, I see black being used, not bright green like the MoD kilts.

[Bugbear]

Oh, I see. Puffer was talking about his military kilts having that waistband, and his military kilts were pleated to the stripe. Not that the stripe pleating required the solid waistband.

[slohairt]

Some of the newer MoD kilts have a solid black waistband made from woollen twill tape.

[The Wizard of BC]

From what I have found while researching the making of military Kilts.....


When you joined a Regiment you were handed a length of fabric.
Depending on the Regiment, and the time frame, this length could have been as little as four yards long by 24" to 27" wide and as great as 6 yards long by 24" to 27" wide.

You were then directed to find the guy in the barracks who knew how to make the Kilts and he and all the newbies would sit around and stitch up their own Kilts.



You would not need to cut your fabric in half because it was already 24" to 27" wide so you do not have a raw edge along the top of the Kilt.

The early Military Kilts also did not have the pleats cut away in the Fell area. They also did not have the stabilizer and interfacing found in today's Kilts but they did have some form of cotton lining. This lining was to keep the Kilt Wool clean and was designed to be removed when too badly soiled.
This lining is sometimes found very long in the apron parts of the Kilt reaching well below the crotch.

Because you do not have a raw edge at the waist that needs covering you could simply sew a strip of blanket binding along the waist to cover the top of the pleats. This binding was also designed to be removed when it became worn from use.

Because you have two Selvedge edges of the fabric preserved it would be possible to un-stitch the Kilt if it was damaged or if the bottom hem should fray. You would simply turn the fabric over and re-stitch the pleats back in.

This ability to remake the Kilt using the same piece of fabric was very frugal and practical. I was also easy to do because you made your Kilt yourself so you knew how to fix it in the field if/or when necessary.

I have seen three or four of this style Kilts. We have quite a few in our museum.

The Straps we see on today's Kilts also seem to be a fairly recent development. I have seen Kilts that have no straps. They are fastened on using a large horse blanket pin. What we know today as the diaper pin style of Kilt pin. This would make sense as these pins would be common and in daily use in the Regiment. It also makes more sense to the development of today's Kilt pin than the myth of the Queen using a hat pin to retain the modesty of some soldier on parade.

As far as I can tell the green binding used on early Kilts is the same binding that would have been found on saddle blankets throughout the British Military.

It seems that the use of green blanket binding is a case of "Use what you have", and "Make it inexpensively, make it last, and make it repairable in the field" sort of typical military thinking that we use even today.

[Bugbear]

Interesting.

Well, guess you live and learn. Unfortunatly, for me, that usually involves making a steady stream of mistakes...

[McMurdo]

Interesting, my first kilt, my Dad's kilt from A&J Scott and co. in the Gunn Modern tartan has a Black waistband, it was made for him in 1950. This is an early kilted picture of me, please pardon the off white hose, however it clearly shows the waistband. This kilt also has an interfacing type material sewn down every pleat. Matt I promise the next time I'm in Franklin I'll bring it down.