Yardage and weight of a kilt?

[kingandrew]

When you hold the material in your hand, you will definitely notice the difference between light, medium, and heavy weight tartan. I have a kilt made of 11 oz fabric and one of 13 oz. It is surprising how much heavier the 13 oz feels than the 11 oz. I'm sure 16 or 18 oz material would be just as noticeably heavier than the 13 oz.

Consider the climate where you live. The more hot and humid the climate, the more I would suggest looking at lighter weight fabrics. The colder the climate, the more you'll want a heavier material wrapped around your body. Living in Florida and now South China, my lightweight kilt is wonderfully cool and practical. When I lived in Beijing, a heavier fabric was very welcome.

The general public will not notice the difference between a 5 or 8 yard kilt. But I can say that the way my 8-yard kilt hangs is far superior to my 5-yard one. The additional fabric and deeper pleats make for more swing and a more refined look overall. But the 5-yarder still looks very nice and I always get compliments on my kilt, no matter which one I am wearing.

Happy kilting!

Andrew

[Crazy Dave]

When you hold the material in your hand, you will definitely notice the difference between light, medium, and heavy weight tartan.

Consider the climate where you live. The more hot and humid the climate, the more I would suggest looking at lighter weight fabrics. The colder the climate, the more you'll want a heavier material wrapped around your body. Living in Florida and now South China, my lightweight kilt is wonderfully cool and practical. When I lived in Beijing, a heavier fabric was very welcome.

The general public will not notice the difference between a 5 or 8 yard kilt. But I can say that the way my 8-yard kilt hangs is far superior to my 5-yard one. The additional fabric and deeper pleats make for more swing and a more refined look overall. But the 5-yarder still looks very nice and I always get compliments on my kilt, no matter which one I am wearing.

Happy kilting!

Andrew

It seem pretty heavy. It keep trying to slip out of my USA Kilts hanger. It is definitely heaver than the USA Kilts Casual Kilt that it displaced from the hanger.

The kilt is already in my possession. In an earlier post i had some pictures. I was trying to find out what tartan it was. It turned out to be MacDougall. Very attractive IMO. I live in Maryland and it gets cold here, so no problem with a heavy kilt. I've been to Beijing twice, but it was summer and very hot!

The general public definitely doesn't notice around here, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Sound like you are too!

Thanks for the reply and Happy kilting to you too!

Dave

[SF Jeff]

When you hold the material in your hand, you will definitely notice the difference between light, medium, and heavy weight tartan. I have a kilt made of 11 oz fabric and one of 13 oz. It is surprising how much heavier the 13 oz feels than the 11 oz. I'm sure 16 or 18 oz material would be just as noticeably heavier than the 13 oz.

It wasn't until I bought my second and third kilts (both 13oz wool from Lochcarron) that I realized my first kilt (purchased new but not bespoke for me) is probably an 11 ouncer. The difference in the fabrics is very noticeable. That being said, the fabric on the 11 oz. is very nice, on par with the Lochcarron wool or even nicer. Hangs well, swings well, pleats have held up well. (The maker of that kilt uses Lochcarron and HoE, so could be either one.)

[Crazy Dave]

Thanks all again! I was able to determine, with all of you help and some additional research, that what I have in fact is a Claymore MacDougall, 8 yard, pleat to set kilt. I also did some additional research, and the pleat to set is also different on a 4 and an 8 yard kilt. This one looks more like an 8 yard, but the preverbal nail in the coffin was that Claymore uses 3 straps on the 8 yard and 2 straps on their 4 yard. They also have a 4 yard top stitch, and this is definitely not a top stitch like my acrylic kilts are. I think it is 13 oz. but I will have to wait until I can compare 11 and 13 oz. fabric side by side.

I also have a wool Royal Stewart kilt that I bought at auction that also appears to be an 8 yard. There is no manufacturer but it appears to be really old. It came with a matching pipers plaid (w/ waist belt). One of the more interesting things about it, while not being and ancient or weathered tartan, it is faded on the outside but not the inside, like it was actually weathered, no made to look weather. I will take pictures and make a separate post.

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