Thanks once more for all the replies, very much appreciated.

I took a bunch of pictures of myself this morning with a bath towel wrapped around me to simulate the look of a kilt at various waist heights.

It's clear that the jeans waist really is not a flattering look for me. Same goes for the natural 'two inches above the navel' waist, that is, I really don't like the look of that either. Perhaps the naval is not the best reference point but I hope it's not too far off.

I should perhaps add that I anticipate always wearing the kit very informally with just some kind of shirt (black button up or maybe a Jacobite if I wear it to a ren fair) tucked into it and paired with combat boots or something similar. I will almost certainly never be wearing it with any kind of jacket or vest and most definitely not an Argyl or Prince Charlie jacket. Ghillie Brogues are also out of the questions. Suspenders are also a no go.

So far, my feeling is that top of the kilt right at the navel, or at most halve an inch above that, is where it will look best on me. This is also the widest part of my belly. And it really does seem to be a more flattering look than a jeans waisted kilt, as long as it does not go more than halve an inch above the navel.

That does bring me back to my initial worry: is it going to stay put if worn that way?

Apparently the two (topmost) straps are generally about 2 inches from the top, so does that put them in a place where they could hold up the kilt? I imagine that might depend on your actual figure so here goes:



The black & yellow rectangle is exactly two inches tall so the top of the topmost straps should just touch the bottom of the black & yellow rectangle if we assume a 2 inch rise. Is that correct and would this work (ie kilt staying up)?


What's puzzling me is that, if I remember correctly (I've seen and read so much these past few days that I might be mixing things up slightly), Rocky from USA Kilts also says in some videos that the (semi/traditional) kilt should be worn roughly two inches above the navel. Yet if I look at the various videos from USA Kilts it looks to me as if they wear their kilts right at the navel, not two inches above it.

Take this video for instance:



So again it really doesn't look to me like he's wearing it two inches above the belly button. The overall look in that video actually seems very similar to the above picture of myself where I wear my make shift kilt right at the navel.

Also, if my eyes are not deceiving me, the straps seem to be closer to the top than two inches on that kilt.

Which leads me to something else I don't really understand: if the straps really are two inches below the top, why does the fabric not droop down at the front on the right side above the straps? Is the fabric stiff enough to hold itself up from the straps upward?