box pleated kilt

**DWFII** · 24th July 09, 06:58 AM

I probably should have asked all these questions in one thread instead of two...but the one gave rise to the others.

So I have a shirt (several) that will work nicely with my Matt Newsome box pleated kilt. And I thank all those who responded in the shirt thread.

What I want to know now is whether wearing a pair of non-matching tartan hose would be historically correct?

And I am probably on shakier ground here...would a highland blue bonnet (the Jacobite style with a white cockade) be historically correct with the box pleated kilt?

Parenthetically, what is the time frame for the box pleated kilt? Isn't the philibeg a non-sewn version of the box pleated? The forerunner? So...from what earliest date to what latest date (before it nearly disappears only to be revived recently) would one expect to see the four yard box pleated kilt being worn.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 24th July 09, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by DWFII

Parenthetically, what is the time frame for the box pleated kilt? Isn't the philibeg a non-sewn version of the box pleated? The forerunner? So...from what earliest date to what latest date (before it nearly disappears only to be revived recently) would one expect to see the four yard box pleated kilt being worn.

The earliest tailored kilt that has been documented is a Gordon Highlanders regimental kilt from 1794. It was just over 3 yards in length and was box pleated to the stripe.

It was also the Gordon Highlanders who were the first military regiment to switch over to knife pleating some 60 years later in 1854.

So the "era of the four yard box pleated kilt" is anywhere from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.

**Woodsheal** · 24th July 09, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by DWFII

I probably should have asked all these questions in one thread instead of two...but the one gave rise to the others.

So I have a shirt (several) that will work nicely with my Matt Newsome box pleated kilt. And I thank all those who responded in the shirt thread.

What I want to know now is whether wearing a pair of non-matching tartan hose would be historically correct?

And I am probably on shakier ground here...would a highland blue bonnet (the Jacobite style with a white cockade) be historically correct with the box pleated kilt?

Parenthetically, what is the time frame for the box pleated kilt? Isn't the philibeg a non-sewn version of the box pleated? The forerunner? So...from what earliest date to what latest date (before it nearly disappears only to be revived recently) would one expect to see the four yard box pleated kilt being worn.

Matt answered re: the kilt itself. As for the knitted blue (plain blue, without the dicing, i.e. civilian style) bonnet, you see them in paintings of Highlanders right through the 1800s. The only difference from the Jacobite version is that the pom-pom (tourie) gets bigger, and the headband portion wider. Arlen's wife Dianne knits them:
http://russetlodgeknits.blogspot.com...n-bonnets.html

Also,the knitted "tams" sold by numerous vendors today are just like the 19th C. bonnet:
http://www.scottishlion.com/catalog/...lain-Beret-Tam

Non-matching tartan hose? Sure, but most 19th C. images (of civilians) seem to reveal a switch to knitted hose like we wear today (plain colored or 'argyll') as opposed to sewn tartan hose. The soldiers still wore their red & white diced hose....

**DWFII** · 24th July 09, 03:59 PM

How about this?

**Woodsheal** · 24th July 09, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by DWFII

How about this?

Perfect...!

**piperdbh** · 24th July 09, 04:58 PM

From some paintings I've seen, the more tartans, the merrier!

Personally, I think different tartans worn together looks kind of funny, but in those days, they didn't seem to have the same fashion sense as today.

**Nighthawk** · 29th July 09, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by piperdbh

From some paintings I've seen, the more tartans, the merrier!

Personally, I think different tartans worn together looks kind of funny, but in those days, they didn't seem to have the same fashion sense as today.

That was going to be my comment, as well. I've seen paintings of Jacobites wearing one tartan in their kilt and tartan hose, and a totally different tartan for their jacket- with a third tartan accenting the cuffs of the sleeve! Way I see it, they regarded these garments as just clothes. They wore what they needed to wear. I like to wear an English doublet with my kilt from time to time. I get a little greif for it, so my backstory is that I killed an Englishman and took it from him to keep myself warm.

**The Wizard of BC** · 29th July 09, 12:55 PM

"So...from what earliest date to what latest date (before it nearly disappears only to be revived recently) would one expect to see the four yard box pleated kilt being worn."

Not before Tuesday and never after Sunday.

**Kilted in Maine** · 29th July 09, 01:07 PM

...as long as you don't wear white hose after Labor Day...

**Bugbear** · 29th July 09, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC

"So...from what earliest date to what latest date (before it nearly disappears only to be revived recently) would one expect to see the four yard box pleated kilt being worn."

Not before Tuesday and never after Sunday.

All right, you have convinced me. The box pleated kilt is not traditional, it is a modern, historical revival style of kilt.

Thanks Wizard.