Women in Kilts?

[Nanook]

I don't see a problem with it...no sporran please

I find that formal sporrans make very hip women's purses. They are not for formal events but neither are kilted skirts. Women often don't wear coats and, it seems that even when they do, most coats don't have proper pockets. Kilted skirts too lack pockets so where to store their "necessities"?
I personally like the look!

[cavscout]

I find that formal sporrans make very hip women's purses. They are not for formal events but neither are kilted skirts. Women often don't wear coats and, it seems that even when they do, most coats don't have proper pockets. Kilted skirts too lack pockets so where to store their "necessities"?
I personally like the look!

I'm sure most of us can agree that fashion (as accepted by the vast majority of the world) is seldom driven by function and comfort. Low rise pants? I don't care who you are they are not practical nor comfortable. If your "crack" isn't showing , then you're being cut in half from the bottom up. I know many women who have "cute" coats, but will they actually keep them warm? NOPE. Men's fashion has also slipped into this mess.

I know of no other single garment that is quite as functional, pratical or comfortable as a kilt (or kilted skirt to stay with the thread topic )

[Jerry]

I don't see a problem with it...no sporran please

Actually, my wife has a sporran which is very similar to one of mine. She wears it with a long green dress which she wears to many of the festivals which we attend. However, she wears it like a pouch on her hip, and not as a sporran.

[ccga3359]

Actually, it is perfectly possible to make a very well-fitting trad kilt that is shaped for a woman's hips (see first image below). In fact, you use the same method to shape a kilt skirt as to shape a traditional kilt, so that's not a valid argument for a woman to wear a kilt skirt instead of a kilt. I've made traditional kilts for female pipers and dancers where the waist/hip differential has been as much as 16" (26" waist, 42" hips). An athletic man (with a flat tummy and nicely-developed bun muscles) typically has a waist-hip differential of 8-9" (see for example, the second photo below). So, in fact, even men can't be fit by a cylindrical kilt, and the pleats have to taper from hips to waist. The waist/hip differential drops to zero when guys have a "bit of a corporation".

Barb T.

SnakeEyes, Barb T wrote the book on traditional kilt making - quite literaly it's called "The art of kiltmaking" of which I half way through. It discusses the making of a traditional kilt, whether for a man or a women. I side with those who say go for it. I'm new to kilting and women have been wearing them a lot longer than I have.

[MacHummel]

I make little hip hugger kilts for the ladies and kilt skirts I make all of mine to strap up on the the right side no one has complained if if feels good wear it.

[Moosedog]

Just another viewpoint here. I have lurked on this site for years and have learned invaluable lessons about kilts and accessories, tailoring and fitting. I've even learned the "Hamish," without which a kilted gathering lacks a certain flair. Thanks for all your help! Now it's time for me to "come out of the closet."

I am a woman and I wear a kilt most every day. I cheerfully tell anyone who asks that it is indeed a man's garment. In fact, my own reservations were the largest hurdle to wearing one, as I was brought up to believe only men wore the traditional kilt, and that I was relegated to the sidelines, wearing my white dress with just a wispy sash of my clan's tartan pinned on. Sigh.

But now I revel in kilts. I love wearing them. I'm cut pretty straight up and down, so a Stillwater off the rack fits me passably. A "woman's" skirt makes me look like I am in drag! (laughing) So what do I choose? The most comfortable and flattering, of course.

I have also made kilts, both contemporary and traditional, for men and for women. Whoever wants to wear one happily gets my business. I've heard the argument that kilt-wearing women go against the stated mission of this forum...I'm not sure how my wearing a kilt keeps men from being able to wear them.

Thanks,
Moosedog

[Robin]

Cheers to you Moosedog!

[SnakeEyes]

Hmm, seems I may have opened a bigger can of worms than I was expecting.

[cloves]

welcome to the rabble Moosedog.

[McMurdo]

Nice of you to come out of the closet Moosedog and

I've heard the argument that kilt-wearing women go against the stated mission of this forum...I'm not sure how my wearing a kilt keeps men from being able to wear them.

Thanks,
Moosedog

Very well said, your enjoying kilts in no way lessens my enjoyment of them, lets face it the more kilt ambassidors out there the better.