Hostess Skirt

[Pleater]

As the female anatomy is slightly different from the male you might need to consider how to make the waistband - rather than doing the male kilt rise your wife might prefer to have a narrow waistband actually on her waist and the pleats below it. Women can be long or short waisted, that is the waistline can be low or high on the body, most woment know which they are.

Another thing to consider is that females are usually quite compressible - so if she intends to wear a belt you could end up with something too large if you measure her natural waist. Measuring her belts and other skirts could be helpful in the planning stages.

Lastly, most women have a particular straight skirt length which is most flattering for them. You might make an experiment - before a full length mirror if you have one, with a piece of cloth and simply raise and lower the edge, folding over the top to the waist line, to see what looks best. It can make a big difference to the sucess of a skirt to adjust it so it ends at the right place on the legs.

Which all goes to prove that kilts are male garments.

[Barb T]

You could certainly use my book to make a hostess skirt, and it would come out fine, and there are plenty of instructions in the book for shaping a kilt to fit a woman. The issues are no different than making a kilt for a female dancer.

Having said that, most hostess skirts are made quite differently than traditional kilts. Here are the typical differences:

-much less material
-lighter weight material (10 oz or even 8 oz)
-pleats stitched by machine
-fewer pleats with no attempt made to pleat either to stripe or sett
-no lining because the pleats aren't cut out and there's typically no canvas interfacing.
-fringe edge on the left instead of on the right
-essentially no rise

The net result is something that looks a lot like a kilt but is less heavy, less bulky, and much less expensive. Folkwear Pattern #152 has a pattern for a hostess skirt (also called a kilt skirt). You can see the pattern at http://www.folkwear.com/152.html

And, having said all this, there's nothing wrong with making a long kilt in traditional fashion for a woman.