Quote Originally Posted by Barb T. View Post
The back of a kilt pleated to the stripe commonly looks very different from the front of the kilt, because every pleat emphasizes the same color or set of colors, which may be very different from the overall color of a tartan. This also means that the part of the tartan hidden in the pleats will be different from the part of the tartan chosen for the pleat reveal. If the contrast is strong, the pleats can "flash" a dramatically different color when the wearer walks.

I just finished a kilt in Modern Young, and I thought I'd share a couple of pictures to show a spectacular example of this flash of colors.





If you want this to work with a kilt that you're making, you need a big contrast in color between the reveal and the hidden part of the pleat, or else it won't be noticeable. And you need to choose the location of the pleats so that the contrasting color is directly below the pleat reveal, rather than hidden deeper in the fold.
Barb... WOW !!! That is SO Cool !!!

John Rickman here... Like your Kilt Tartan above, the Leatherneck has a very prominate Double Gold Stripe that stands out Greatly from the rest of the Tartan. All the Leatherneck Kilts that I've ever seen, displays this Double Gold Stripe by either pleating to the Sett or to the Stripe. But if you pleat the Leathernect to the Stripe, the Pleated Side of the Kilt appears to turn Solid Gold.

I don't like this STRONG of a color shift from the Apron to the Pleats, so I have just ordered a "Leatherneck" Kilt pleated to the Double Gold Stripe with the Wider Blue / Green Stripe showing next to it before the next pleat starts. I asked for it this way to add some space between the Gold Stripes so that they won't be so close together as to cause the pleated side of the kilt to appear Solid Gold.

But I never thought about completely hiding the Gold Stripe under the reveal to cause it to FLASH when it opens while I walk. That Sounds so Fantastic !!! I wish that you had posted your FLASH Idea here before the New Year. Do you have any pictures that you could show all of us Military types, what the Leatherneck Tartan Kilt would look like when it's pleated with your FLASH Idea to the Double Gold Stripe ??? If it looks half as good as your Kilt above, I'm going to get me another Leatherneck pleated with your Flash Idea.

Thank you for Posting Such a Great Idea...

Most Sincerely Yours...