Got my first pair of ghillie brogues

[Arnot]

My single critique of your outfit would be that the kilt is not on centre.

It's fairly common for cheaper MacKenzie kilts to be incorrectly centred - my PV kilt is centred on a white line, not dissimilar to the OP's and this makes it appear asymmetric. My ex-military is centred on a red line, which makes it symmetric, though my thin build and the large sett make that the only vertical red line visible on the front apron! JR will probably want to discuss with Rocky for his new kilt.

Perhaps it is meant to be centered between the white stripes like the Highland Light Infantry and needs to be turned toward his left a bit. The kilt below is from the HLI.

[JRYoung]

Thanks OC Richard, you're right the balmoral does take a bit of care to get it on right. I kind of just tossed it on for that picture, though I'll be honest I didn't know it was worn quite so cantered, but I think I've got it better now, though not perfect.
It's rather hard to get a good picture of an all black balmoral. I hope sometime to get some more balmorals in different colours, I'm thinking something like an olive or tan and probably diced.
I have considered the Young tartan, in fact I have a swatch hanging in my bedroom, though I'm from the German Youngs, originally spelled Jung. I may still buy a kilt in Young somewhere down the line, but for now I'm going to focus on Mackenzie, being that I have some lineage from them and because that's what my grandmum likes to see me in.

WillowEstate, that's definetely true that cheaper kilts tend to be off centered, it's a bit annoying but you get what you pay for. I'm not sure what to say as far as how I will want my new kilt to be centered, I suppose it should be centered on the red line, though I will most likely have the same problem. I do know that I want it to be pleated to the sett. I'm not big on pleating to the stripe, although when it comes to used kilts I'll take what I can get; it's slim pickings in my size so I don't complain when I can actually find one.

[JRYoung]

Perhaps it is meant to be centered between the white stripes like the Highland Light Infantry and needs to be turned toward his left a bit. The kilt below is from the HLI.

Now that I see it centered like this, I rather like it and I'm even more unsure how I should have my new kilt centered. At least when it's centered like the HLI, you can actually get the whole effect of the sett, rather than centered on the red line and that being the only vertical red on the apron.

[OC Richard]

And here's a MacKenzie kilt in the extra-heavy huge-sett MOD fabric centred to the red line; though from MOD style fabric, I don't think it's an army kilt.



The tartan has to be centred either on the red line, or the dark square, to be symmetrical, as you can see.

Soldiers are usually careful about wearing their kilts centred, as you can see here, even when not on parade!



About Balmorals, here's my black one back in the 1980s when it was new



and the same hat now

[pbutts]

Much better on the bonnet. what I find helpful is to use the left hand in the back to make sure the ribbon is centered and the right hand to give the brim a tug forward and to the right.

here's a handy article for tying ghillies from Andrew Lenz --
http://www.bagpipejourney.com/articl..._brogues.shtml

[JRYoung]

Much better on the bonnet. what I find helpful is to use the left hand in the back to make sure the ribbon is centered and the right hand to give the brim a tug forward and to the right.

here's a handy article for tying ghillies from Andrew Lenz --
http://www.bagpipejourney.com/articl..._brogues.shtml

It seems from habit that I put my hats on with my right hand on the back and left on the front. I'll have to try to reverse that habit, at least when wearing the balmoral.
Thanks for the link, I forgot about doing fewer twists on the back than on the front. I had 6 half twists on the front and back, which is part of why the laces ended up so high on my leg. I'll have to experiment and find the number of twists that I like and I think I might cut some of the lace off as I think the bow is a bit too big.

[OC Richard]

I just came across this photo again. The bearded Pipe Major in the centre is of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, WWII, and as you can see his kilt is centred to the red line

[JRYoung]

I just came across this photo again. The bearded Pipe Major in the centre is of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, WWII, and as you can see his kilt is centred to the red line

It's interesting that different regiments would center the apron differently, even with the same tartan. I would have thought it would have been more standardized. I will say though, that after seeing this I think I'm definitely set on having it centered on the dark square.

[416 Rigby]

The apron of my Mackenzie Modern, a casual from USAK, is centered on the red line. This tartan is usually pleated to the line. You get a nice look when the kilt moves. It's worth having a look to be sure before you spend your $.

[Jock Scot]

Gosh, we do seem to have wandered off topic! Anyway, I know the military require uniformity with their kit, but the British Army have assorted variations on a theme that can and does catch out the unknowing. Often these variations are a subtle difference between the Battalions of the same Regiment.

For the civilians I can well remember kilts having no particular centre line whatsoever and it was all pretty haphazard. I think partly, because the kilts may well have been rebuilt a couple of times for new owners, or even had the aprons reversed. Certainly the pleats quite often just seemed to be done on an "as they come" basis. I may be wrong, but I think this centre line (whatever form that takes) thing and pleats all uniform in pattern is very much a modern thing for civilian wear. I was at a family wedding not so long ago and I was surrounded by many kilts of assorted age, varying from brand new to 60 plus years old, of the same Clan and it was quite noticeable that no particular centre line took precedence(if at all) for any of the kilts. My two kilts have different coloured centre lines and I have no idea how symmetric the tartan is at the rear, other than I know that they are pleated to the sett.