Physiometrics and standard lengths

[Tommie]

Im 5-11,170,and 34 to 36 waist.and I usally take two inches off Jerrys kilts.
I like the kilt to hit the top of the knee cap,and wear them just at my navel.
May not be the correct way to wear them,but who cares,its how it feels that I care about.
They just dont look right above my navel.
Throw me in for 22 maybe even 22.5 inch kilts from Jerry would be great.

[svc40bt]

I am 5' 11". My USA Kilts Semi-Traditional at 22" length, selvage just above the knee cap, sits 1-2" above my navel; long torso, short legs. Put me down for 22" Stillwaters as well.

[CDNSushi]

It's easy for someone in my shoes (183cm, 85kg -- sorry, my American brothers -- I've been living in metricland so long now that I've forgotten what that is in Imperial. I know 183 is 6'0" but I have no idea about 85kg in pounds) to comment on this issue... But as far as kilt length goes, it's always easier to shorten something if you need to. Lengthening is rather impossible. Rather than waiting until a purveyor of kilts starts selling shorter ones, it's probably much easier to befriend a good seamstress or tailor.

FWIW, all my "standard" off-the-rack kilts -- SWK, KM, and Hassan Geoffrey, are identical in length and are very similar in how they sit around my waist. I do find that the most comfortable position for them is just below the navel, and if I wear it at that position and kneel (as if in prayer), the bottom edge of the kilt comes within about 1 cm of the floor, but doesn't quite touch it. This, according to everything I've read, is the correct length.

Now, if you go shopping on the Utilikilts website, they do have their "contour cut" (used to be called the beergut cut) for the more "fluffy" gentleman (fluffy -- as in Garbriel Iglesias). Examining some of those may help in your physiometric analysis.

[Ian.MacAllan]

Useful conversion factors:
1 Kg = 2.2 lbs
1 inch = 2.5 cm

183 cm = 6' 1.2"
85 Kg = 187 lbs

.

[Mike in Dayton]

I like the length to be at the top of the knee cap so 23" works for me on a traditional kilt. Two of my contemporary kilts I wear at the hip where I would my jeans. One is 21" or maybe it was 20", don't remember. It comes to the top of the knee. The second turned out to be closer to 19" so it is little short but for summer hiking it works.

Mike

[Carolina Kiltman]

Just a couple of comments: On a man, the waist is almost always at the naval. On a woman it is somewhat lower. This is pretty much a constant, with only very slight variations. (Don't ask my why, ask the designer!

In the Navy we used to have a joke about a pregnant woman and a 20 year Chief (Petty Officer, MSGT to you Army types) having the same figure problem.

If the kilt is made to fit you, then these measurements are critical. Since all the off the peg kilts are too short for me, I cannot say where the best place to wear them is, my guess is where they feel comfortable.

I agree it is easier to shorten a kilt than to lengthen one, at least until they get a Kilt Stretcher. So just wear it wherever it is comfortable. Just remember not to have the length below the middle of the kneecap. That just looks sloppy in my book.

[Nanook]

Just a couple of comments: On a man, the waist is almost always at the naval.

I'm sorry but if you mean "natural waist" (the most narrow part of the torso) I must disagree. Its typically about 1" above the naval but can be much higher. The lower, of course, the hip/waist ratio the less "natural" the waist :-)

On a woman it is somewhat lower. This is pretty much a constant, with only very slight variations. (Don't ask my why, ask the designer!

Women are typically shorter and their waists are, in general, more narrow (women tend to be more pear shaped while men more apple formed but that's just "tend" and no hard rule) but their waistlines are not lower or higher--- nor their legs longer (its an aim of clothing design and fashion to create the impression of longer legs, shorter torso and smaller waist to signal youth and fertility).

If the kilt is made to fit you, then these measurements are critical. Since all the off the peg kilts are too short for me, I cannot say where the best place to wear them is, my guess is where they feel comfortable.

Where the kilt should sit is a design criteria. Some kilts are like common skirts designed to sit on the hips, others at the "natural waist" ("traditional") and still others right under the ribs ("army"). Traditional and army kilts need to fit tight and snug--- so snug that if you don't pull in your gut and hold your breath it should not be able to move by tugging.

Just remember not to have the length below the middle of the kneecap. That just looks sloppy in my book.

But again it can be a fashion statement. Have a look at some of the offering from TFCK including over the knee models--- the difference between women's and men's being, at best, the perception of "minimum length" for "modesty" (with men, of course, extending somewhat lower).