jacket with casual kilt - X Marks the Scot

NewEnglander · #1 12-04-2009, 06:05 AM

I'm about to send a sport coat recently snagged on ebay off to be converted into a kilt jacket. The kilt I plan on wearing it with is a casual kilt from USA Kilts. I wear the kilt just at the navel, a bit of a compromise between "jeans" and "traditional" waists. Before it's converted I want to be sure I know how high to ask for it to be brought up. Does anyone have any advice on what I should be looking for in the final product? Any pictures of you in a casual kilt (worn a bit lower than traditional height) with a jacket on?
I know it'd be handy if I had a pic of me in the kilt and jacket so I'll do my best to get one posted later in the day.

Bugbear · #2 12-04-2009, 06:36 AM

I would just have it shortened to the length of a regular kilt jacket, a little above the bottom of the fell, if it is a regular length fell.

My canvas kilt is mid rise too, and I tried it with my kilt jacket. I don't have any good pictures handy, but I don't think the mid rise was an issue. The kilt does have a short fell compared to a regular kilt though; the jacket may have actually helped that a little.

I would like to know the Wizard of BC's oppinion of this.

Farlander · #3 12-04-2009, 08:51 AM

Ted's advice is good. I have converted one jacket myself:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/c...arlander+crail
From those pictures, you can see that the top of the kilt is not an issue (note that the kilt in the pictures is actually a sports kilt, and being worn low). What is more important, is that the cut away in the front has room for the sporran.

Another thing to note is that you do not really have all that much control over how long the jacket ends up. You trim the jacket so that just one button is removed. It turns out that this mostly dictates the new length of the jacket.

Enjoy your new kilt jacket!

Bugbear · #4 12-04-2009, 09:00 AM

Ya, it depends a bit on the jacket. I was able to keep both buttons on my jacket front, but it might not work out.

NewEnglander · #5 12-04-2009, 09:03 AM

Thanks for the input and the pics. I had read a post recently about a converted jacket that ended up being a bit too short and I wanted to be sure to avoid that. I don't think I'm going to worry about any special measurements and just send it off for the conversion.

MacLowlife · #6 12-04-2009, 03:39 PM

You might try this:

Put on your kilt, put on the jacket. Measure down your back to the top of the open part of the pleats.
(Measure down from the top of your collar to the top of the open part of the pleats, i.e., the bottom of the sewn part, i.e., the fell, I believe.) That number should be between 25 and 30 inches, quite possibly 26 or so. I would ASK the tailor to chop the jacket to there. If possible, show the tailor ( via picture) how the kilt sits on you and how the jacket sits over the kilt- especially in back.

If you stand in front of something like a book case, it should be easy enough for the tailor to gauge, looking at two pictures posed the same way, one with the kilt and no jacket and one with the kilt AND the jacket, whereabouts the jacket should end. If you really want to go in for overkill, you can stand next to a series of lines one inch apart, so that the tailor can measure from the pictures. This would require large format pics and a lot of unnecessary effort. Chances are, they can gauge by the ends of your arms or your sleeves as easily as anything else.

As someone hinted, the pleats on a low rise kilt open at about the same place as on a higher-rise one. What changes is the height of the waistband and the length of the sewn part of the pleats. Thus, the jacket comes to the same place on your torso, or close...

I hope this has been helpful, or at least not confusing... I know less than MacBug.

Bugbear · #7 12-04-2009, 04:28 PM

I used secret origami jacket-folding techniques, and symmetric body-contortion geometry to find the proper placement of the hem on my kilt jacket.

MacBean · #8 12-04-2009, 05:20 PM

The few conversions I have seen here seem a bit loose around the middle near the buttons. Has anyone else noticed this or is it my imagination?

ChattanCat · #9 12-04-2009, 07:13 PM

The proper length of the jacket is at or above the bottom of the fell. I prefer my kilt jackets a little shorter than the bottom of the fell. If you kilt does not have the pleats sewn down, measure your kilt lenth and divide it by 3. Since you like to wear your kilt about 1 or 2 inches below the traditional kilt, add an in to the 1/3 measurement. This should put the jacket about the shelf of your butt.

NewEnglander · #10 12-04-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChattanCat

The proper length of the jacket is at or above the bottom of the fell. I prefer my kilt jackets a little shorter than the bottom of the fell. If you kilt does not have the pleats sewn down, measure your kilt lenth and divide it by 3. Since you like to wear your kilt about 1 or 2 inches below the traditional kilt, add an in to the 1/3 measurement. This should put the jacket about the shelf of your butt.

So this mathematics of yours will give me the length down my kilt the jacket should come?
This is all far more confusing that I had anticipated. I might just ask Victoria to convert the jacket as she normally would and trust that it'll look fine enough for the limited use it'll get in the near future. I appreciate all of the expert input, I'm just worried that if I try to do any measuring on my own that I'll end up causing more problems than I avoid.