Wool vs. Silk

[Bugbear]

Oddly, this topic has come up before. Here's a thread going way back to aught four.
Silk kilt

The thread at that link was started by Bubba.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I don't think that a silk kilt would be heavy enough to preserve modesty or to retain warmth!

In In'jas sunny clime,
Where my Uncle spent his time,
A shootin' tigers and the rest,
His highland kilt was hot,
So silk is what he got,
And was it mine I'd truly feel blessed.

Cool in all those regions
Where questions come in legions,
It brushed to just the top of Uncle's knee.
When on the floor a dancin'
And with the Ladies prancin'
He never worried about his modesty.

For at a durbar or a levee
His sporran was quite heavy,
Like all the others of his highland Ilk.
And standing on review,
When hard the wind it blew
It never lifted high that kilt of silk.

[Roan Carter]

MacMillan is a lucky man. I have not seen one in person, but I have seen enough photographs of them to invision a proper place for their wear. There are certain crowds that eat things like this up.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I've been told by Bob Martin that at one time silk kilts were seen for evening dress. I haven't had the benefit of seeing one in person, though. But no doubt if the silk cloth was heavy enough, and the kilt had enough yards in it, it would hold its shape well and feel marvelous!

BTW, I've started using an undyed raw silk lining in all my kilts. I really like the way it works out.
M

[James MacMillan]

I once had (in my smaller days) a silk suit that I had made in Hong Kong when I was there, and that fabric was easily heavy enough for a kilt!

[McFarkus]

On the other hand, I've seen some great silk and wool fabric blends. Imagine a 13 oz kilt from a 70% wool 30% silk blend. I'll be that would be sooo comfortable and warm too (remember they make winter underwear from silk).

[Riverkilt]

I WANT ONE!!!!!

The perfect kilt to have for "that" special occasion.

If a man can have leather kilts, why not a silk kilt...or two...??

Which tartan? Who makes them? Ahhhhhhh my addiction craving silk....silk...silk....gotta have silk.....

Ron

[Riverkilt]

Surfing, found that the Scotland Shop offers lady's silk skirts in 75 different tartans...

http://www.scotlandshop.net/shop/category/23/302/

So someone makes a silk fabric in tartan that "may" work for a kilt. No fabric details.

For some reason, they sew the skirts up on the bias. Don't know if that's a choice or a need.

Ron

[Robinhood]

A few years back, at an arts and crafts show I saw silk suits
make of silk that looked like burlap. It sure didn't feel like burlap.
The fabric had to be at least 22 oz. and was soft but not slinky
or girly in any way. The cost was astronomical, probably due
in part to being one of a kind fashion, and in part to the material.

If that fabric was made in a tartan, it could make a very nice
kilt, probably in the $1200 to $2000 range. Such a kilt would
last many lifetimes.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

My uncle's silk kilt was reserved for "formal" occasions, things like the Oban Ball. He was born in the last decade of Queen Victoria's reign, and had been "out" to India between the wars. He was every inch an Edwardian gentleman-- all five foot six inches of him, which I why, at just a tad over six foot, I didn't end up with is kilt and attendant kit. (The fact that he was a McBain and left it all to a cousin probably also had something to do with it, but I digress.)

His doublet and waistcoat were silk barethea. The kilt was silk (McBain tartan) and the fabric was quite thick, much thicker than say a pair of silk pajamas.

My dinner jacket is lined with silk tartan -- MacMillan Hunting -- and is perfect for those occasions when not kilted.