Quote Originally Posted by WillowEstate View Post
I flipped over the picture and reduced its size to more reasonable proportions - does that look better? The woman does seem to be wearing a regular man's kilt, as you say, not the same proportions as the OP's.

Flipped.jpg

As to the OP's original pictures, Bluebonnet's suggestion seems very reasonable, except that the kilt looks a bit long for dancing. What are the actual measurements, waist, length, sleeve length on the jacket and maybe sock size? The proportions still look rather odd, though.

I'm wondering if it might be an outfit made for a movie of some sort - the anomalies could be put down to "artistic license"?
If it is a dance kilt, it was probably made to have a higher rise so that it would fit for a longer time and not show the blouse when the dancer's arms are raised above their head or pulled out when dancing a reel. Wee girls tend grow up not out - waist and hips are pretty much remain the same from 8-12 yo - not much changes in the fell. They do tend to grow up until they are past their puberty. Many of my dancing kilts had it tucked under my armpits and held up with a set of braces to allow for growth - just drop the kilt down. (the trend back then was also to sew an undershirt onto the kilt to keep it in place - could be removed easily if the girl grew.)

Just have a look at any of the old Scottish Board books on dancing dress regs and you'll see where this outfit fit in and the time era.