The Black Watch duty uniform

[James MacMillan]

Period or not - I wear my kilt at the top of the knee - period!

[TheSp8]

I prefer top of the knee but the Goodwife prefers I wear them at mid-knee. There was a guy playing the pipes in the St Patrick's day parade last year that had a kilt a good hands breadth above his knee. His looked too short.

YMOS,
Tony

[SteveB]

Another vote for the top of the knee. Maybe we should start an X-Marks poll...
I prefer mine at the top of the knee, but have one that is almost to the middle of the knee. I am tall, so I have more room to play with for the proportions to look right.
--- Steve

[thescot]

I wouldn't have a kilt lower that the top of the knee cap. Shorter is even better as it's more comfortable.

[Riverkilt]

Aye, above the top of the knee for sure. Lower and the back of the kilt will slap away at your popliteal fossa and be irritating (at least for me), and over long hikes or strolls through the mall the kilt edge can start beating up your skin there and causing soreness.

Ron

[Highland Logan]

According to Thompson, and others, the length should be the top of the knee, to no more than an inch higher. And I suppose where this is in the traditional threads, how one wears anything other than a traditional is irrelevant. I am surprised sometimes with all of the former military personal on this board, there seems to be a culture of "I like it like this", rather than "the correct way to wear it is". When wearing a proper traditional kilt, there are rules on how it is to be worn, no different than your Drill Sgt. ensuring that your dress uniform is on correctly. I Think it's safe to say that when most of the people here see the kids nowadays with their pants down around their ****, we think they give all kids a bad name. Well it's the same with someone who "chooses" to wear the kilt incorrectly. Others see this and guilt by association... unless of course they have already seen someone wear it correctly. This was not meant to offend, just a strong stance on proper dress.

Frank

[Riverkilt]

Hmmmm, best of luck to you finding a common opinion on the correct way to wear the kilt.

Not even sure there's a Gaelic word for "to be agreeable." A pretty independent lot borne of tribes that didn't much agree with their neighboring tribes/clans.

Sorta like there's no word for "I'm sorry" or "I apologize" in the Navajo language.

We have a thread going now about two straps or three straps...

I do so love the freedom, if not the utter anarchy, of kilt wearing.

Ron

[Highland Logan]

That seems to be part of the problem; opinion. There are guidelines on how to properly size and wear a proper traditional kilt. This makes opinions irrelevant. I want to wear white socks with black shoes and a black suit (I don't really want to, it's to illustrate a point). Is this right? No it's not, regardless of my opinion.

Frank

[arrogcow]

Regulations for military uniforms don't apply to civilians. You don't see many people getting upset about guys on the street not having their shoes spit shined or their cammo pants properly bloused.

Same thing, military uniform kilts have regs, a civilian has a little latitude.

As for Thompson's authority. He also says to wear a belt with a vest, but popular consensus here is that you shouldn't.

Adam

[Highland Logan]

You should re-read before you post in. I never said that people should dress to military regs. I made reference to how in a group where many people were made to dress to standards, there seems to be a prevailing attitude that one can dress how they please, regardless of proper etiquette. This is the traditional tread after all. Also Thompson never said that waistcoats and belts go together, he said "worn with either a waistcoat or evening belt", he did however consider that people were wearing them together, and offered suggestions on how to make this look better. You should re-read his book too.

Frank