Rocky has a good point. Take Lochcarron's "casual kilts." They are machine stitched from four yards of cloth. But they are made from the same woolen tartan as any of their other kilts. They are knife pleated, have the same leather straps and buckles. In other words, the only difference between it and one of their normal kilts is that it has half as much cloth (and so fewer pleats) and is machine stitched. From a distance, most people would not notice a big difference.

I wouldn't recommend getting one of these in light weight cloth, but in a medium or heavy weight wool it does quite well. And wear it with a nice black Argyle jacket or even a Prince Charlie, with ghillie brouges and a formal sporran, and you'll look quite nice. If you had the choice between this and a hand tailored kilt, I'd say wear your hand tailored one -- but if this was all you had, you'd be fine.

Now the more you start to deviate from the standard, the less likely it is that you'd want to wear it to a formal event. A machine stitched kilt, made from only four yards of a light weight acrylic cloth, with a smaller than usual sett, designed to sit on the hips, etc., etc., would not work. In other words, if the kilt is designed specifically to be casual wear, I wouldn't wear it outside of that context.

But I still stand by my earlier statement that a mark of a good kilt is that it can be worn casually or formally, depending on the accessories.

Aye,
Matt