Skirting Obscenity

[xman]

I've got a friend asking for a mini skirt and I want to make sure I don't make any glaring mistakes. She has given the length to 6" above her knee, but openly admits the 5" might be better in case we want to ham later, but I have also read that more than 4" above the knee is 'obscene'.

She also wants the waistline 4" below her natural waist so I was simply going to use a 1/6 fell length as opposed to 1/3.

6" off the bottom and 4" off the top is 10" giving a 15" long skirt which seems perhaps a little small for her slim 5'9" frame.

I'm imagining medium weight would work best, but am unsure.
Any wisdom in this regard would be appreciated.

X

[Bugbear]

I think they want to see pictures to decide. Just saying.

[zirrow]

I don't know that it would be considered obscene depending on the location and rest of the outfit. What is the intended use?

and yes, pictures would be much appreciated

[Adrian]

Have a look at the pictures of Miss Scotland 2011 looking good playing golf at Gleneagles on the scottish sun newspaper website. Might give you some ideas on mini kilt length. I believe Miss Scotland is around 6ft tall...

[xman]

I'm hoping for pictures too, but we can relax, she's in Oz till the new year.

I thought she wanted a ladies length skirt, but she's just got me questioning what it is I think I know about kiltmaking. I imagine the length will seem an inch shorter around back unless I can do something about that.

[Chas]

Sounds like a belt to me.

Regards

Chas

[Macman]

x, my wife has four kilted mini skirts and they are all 15 or 16 inches long. I think she wears them between 2-4 inches below her natural waist (think 2" below the navel), and she's 5'4" tall. All the material feels like it's in the 10 oz. range. She's 53 years old (she'll kill me if she reads this!) and I don't think she looks obscene; in fact, I think she looks great! There are going to be lots of opinions on what's obscene or not, but if the lady wants 5-6 inches above the knee, I'd say give the customer what she wants!

[Tartan Tess]

Gads!High school gym shorts back in the 70's.........couldn't be 3" or 4" above your knee.
Womens thigh bones are longer than mens if I rememeber correctly.
Think Billie kilt here. lucky you Xman (measuring her) ha ha
In all seriousness, I am interested to know the final measurements, and how to make the damn thing. I have a goal of making all sorts of types of kilts....tradational, dance, military, box etc.for a Saint Andrews Society exhibition and a billie kilt would be the icing on the cake.

[CDNSushi]

Rules of Customer Service

1. The customer is always right.
2. If the customer is wrong, see Rule 1.

But since this is a friend and not a customer, it may be a bit different. I would probably avoid words like "obscene" - that's a very emotionally loaded word. Bit if you are uncomfortable making a skirt that is, in your opinion too short, try to tell her that in your professional eye's opinion a slightly longer one would flatter her more. Add that it's always easier to shorten it later if it's too long than to lengthen it if it's too short.

But having said all that.... Gee, I wish MY wife wore miniskirts.

[The Wizard of BC]

Hi X,

From what you give in your post I could not make a skirt that would be guaranteed to fit the way the lady expects.

I would strongly suggest you have the lady take some actual measurements. This would include the length of the Fell.

Let her measure where she wants the waist to fit and where she wants the hem.

Please remember that the top straps of a girls skirt, worn lower than the natural waist, may need to be closer to the top of the kilt than is normal for a man's full rise kilt.

The thing about the Billie type skirts is that there is no Fell to speak of. These types of skirts use a placket to create the taper. Much along the idea of the "V" shaped placket in the back of a pair of blue jeans.
The pleats are sewn into the placket with little or no tapering.

Also, the swish factor is minimal when made with the heavier fabrics of a man's kilt. Most Billie type skirts are made from fabrics 10oz or less. 4 and 5 oz is not uncommon.