Quote Originally Posted by Father Bill View Post
The idea of "yards" is just a figure of speech to talk about how thoroughly pleated the kilt is. The waist, hips, and belly of each wearer will have a big influence on how much cloth is in the kilt once it is pleated to either sett or stripe.

The bottom line is that what is sold as a 'five yard kilt' has less and/or possibly shallower pleats than what is sold as an 'eight yard kilt'. It will end up being lighter in weight, and will likely have less 'swing' when you walk. If it is well made, few people will note the difference and if they do, they won't necessarily be sure what it is that causes the difference.

Similarly, a kilt with historical (not military) box pleats, probably pleated to the set will have somewhat less material in it because it takes less to make the pleats.

I have both an historical box pleat, and also an 8 yard knife pleat. I wear both happily, and the biggest difference is that the box pleat was cheaper, and swings less.
That makes it clear. I will give it another look/see. Thanks! I do like the look of box pleats.