Kilt measurements

[Remy]

I'm looking at buying a second hand kilt on ebay and the seller doesn't know the size. She says it is 44" when laid flat. My question is, what waist measurement is that likely to be? I've asked the seller but I'm not confident with her answer.
Thanks,
Remy

[lethearen]

Lain out flat, as in completely unwrapped and just lain? At a guess... I'd say maybe 28-30" waist?

My (probably faulty) logic... a kilt's waist measurement is divided into three more or less equal sections. The pleats, the front apron, and the back apron. So if we divide 44" by three, we get each third is 14.6"... subtracting that from the total length since one of the aprons is overlapped, gives us 29.3".

That's a guess. I'm sure our esteemed kiltmakers have more sound answers

Addendum:
If she's got a cloth tape, she should be able to buckle the kilt and measure around the circumference... Also, since you are talking about a female seller, you might want to double check which side the kilt opens on. If it opens on the wearer's left hip, it's actually a woman's kilted skirt, and not a man's kilt.

[Remy]

Good advice. I asked her to measure the inside and here's her reply:
The measurements are end to end unfolded. The
measurement along the inside with the kilt
fastened on the smallest hole of the buckle is
29.5 inches. However, there is about a 1/2 inch
of play available b/c there is an added set of
holes in one of the belt straps.
So it sounds like your guess is right. I'm about a 34 so I gues it won't work for me.
Thanks!

[ForresterModern]

Probably the most accurate way to measure a kilt is by laying the whole thing out on the bed or floor and then measuring from middle of the single buckle on the outside left of the kilt across the pleats/fell and the underapron to the top strap on the far right side of the kilt, taking measurements to the first and last holes in that strap. Those two measurements should give you the range of size the kilt would be expected to cover and should be about 2 inches different, give or take. That should give you the circumference of the underapron and fell/pleats portion of the kilt, which is inside the front apron and directly against whatever clothing you will be wearing underneath the waistline of the kilt (I will not go there...ahh ah ahhhhh.)

Overall size measurements and apron-fell-underapron measurements are nice but it is the straps which are going to hold the thing up, and the straps may have been moved by the previous owner to either take in or loosen the kilt from its original build. Or the particular kiltmaker may have used variant measurements and calculations in laying the kilt out originally, compared to what another kiltmaker might have chosen.

jeff