Neat kilt hanging trick

[Jock Scot]

Hello James,I hope you had a great trip.That is a neat idea of yours----I keep re-learning that I am never too old to learn a new trick!

Slightly off topic,sorry,but I notice in the pictures above that the kilts have belt loops.Is this a modern idea?Or, is this a colonial adaptation?

[turpin]

Hello James,I hope you had a great trip.That is a neat idea of yours----I keep re-learning that I am never too old to learn a new trick!

Slightly off topic,sorry,but I notice in the pictures above that the kilts have belt loops.Is this a modern idea?Or, is this a colonial adaptation?

Just about every kilt that comes from Scotland has these now, too. They are supposedly for the sporran belt, not a the kilt belt, but most folks don't know this. Wearing the belt through the loops can interfere with the way the pleats hang. I find that for non-custom kilts, like SWK, I need to use the loops to keep the kilt belt from riding up over the waistband, but this doesn't happen on my custom kilts. Barb T and Matt Newsome recommend against belt loops.

[James MacMillan]

Slightly off topic,sorry,but I notice in the pictures above that the kilts have belt loops.Is this a modern idea?Or, is this a colonial adaptation?

I'm still undecided about belt loops, some of my custom kilts have them and some don't. The same goes for the "off-the-rack" kilts.

Sometimes, if I know I will be moving around quite a bit, I like them. Other times I don't.

I do notice that after a long day of getting into and out of my truck, or of sitting and standing a lot, the belt loops help.

I don't agree that the belt loops mess up the hang of the kilt.

I see no difference.

After all the sporran is a pretty big drag too.

All-in-all, I think I like belt loops.

[slohairt]

I'm still undecided about belt loops, some of my custom kilts have them and some don't. The same goes for the "off-the-rack" kilts.

Sometimes, if I know I will be moving around quite a bit, I like them. Other times I don't.

I do notice that after a long day of getting into and out of my truck, or of sitting and standing a lot, the belt loops help.

I don't agree that the belt loops mess up the hang of the kilt.

I see no difference.

After all the sporran is a pretty big drag too.

All-in-all, I think I like belt loops.

James, I think what most people mean is that a kilt belt will pull the pleats higher (thus altering the hang at the bottom of the pleats) when worn through the loops, while a sporran would pull down.

Also, it should be noted that some kilts have belt loops, and some have sporran loops (which aren't always the same thing). A good rule-of-thumb is, if the loops won't fit a belt, they're for the sporran only.

Jock, you may be thinking of military kilts, which never have loops of any kind.

[James MacMillan]

OK - Let's see if I have this straight? If I can fit a belt through it, it's a belt loop? and if I can fit a sporran belt through it, it's a sporron loop? And are they are different in any other way, except for size?

Like - is the belt loop mounted higher or lower on the kilt? Is the sporran loop sewn only to the back of the kilt and not the sides?

-And if the sporran loops cause the kilt to hang lower this is OK, and it doesn't alter the hang?

-And if the belt loops cause the kilt to hang higher? -that does alter the hang?

And if the loops are small they aren't just for a smaller belt?

Gee so much to learn...............

[slohairt]

Typically there are only two loops sewn onto the back of the kilt for either a sporran strap or kilt belt. Kilt belt loops tend to have an aperture of greater than two inches. Some people wear their kilt belt and the sporran strap through it. Others only wear the kilt belt through it and not the sporran strap. Still others only use the belt loops as sporran loops!

Sporran loops, I have noted, have an aperture of less than two inches, and thus could really only accommodate a sporran strap.

For some reason, a sporran strap pulling down doesn't cause the opposite effect in the pleating that a kilt belt pulling up through the loops would. Perhaps this is because most of the sporran's weight rests on the hips. The upward pull of a kilt belt is something that takes effect gradually over years of wear.

Baffling indeed, I agree!

[McMurdo]

Hello James,I hope you had a great trip.That is a neat idea of yours----I keep re-learning that I am never too old to learn a new trick!

Slightly off topic,sorry,but I notice in the pictures above that the kilts have belt loops.Is this a modern idea?Or, is this a colonial adaptation?

Jock
My first kilt is a Gunn Modern that my dad gave me it was made by A&J Scott and co. Aberdeen, in about 1950, and it has belt loops. The Isle of Skye kilt was made here with the loops but my Graham of Mantieth Modern from Hector Russell has no belt loops.
I'm really not sure what that means but I am sure that the addition of loops is not a Colonial adaptation.