7 Pleats Question

[Ozark Ridge Rider]

Had a friend pose a question today: He heard somewhere that there were only 7 pleats in the first kilts, representing the original (?) 7 clans.

I have never heard anything like this, and it doesn't seem plausible to me. But could there be some basis in fact? Or could this be one of those legends having something to do with box pleats (of which I assume there would be a lesser number on older military kilts than is commonly used today)?

[davidlpope]

Total bunk! The number of pleats in a kilt is determined by how much fabric the kilt is made from, the size of the sett (if pleating to a pattern), the type of pleats used, and how wide the pleats are when sewn at the fell. Box-pleated kilts use less fabric and, therefore, have fewer pleats.

[Bugbear]

You know, I collect folk lore and mythic tails; I think I will pass on adding this one to my collection.

[Paul]

I doubt clans would make a statement to represent other clans within ther kilts... especially since the way the clan system worked!

[SFCRick]

I have never heard of this in a kilt. In Japanese traditional martial arts such as kendo, iaido, jodo, kyudo along with the more modern aikido the practitioners wear a pleated set of trousers called a Hakama ( although at formal demonstrations when a full kimono is worn the silk Hakama is unbifurcated to allow the full length kimono to hang properly). The Hakama has 5 pleats in the front and one pleat in the back. The 5 pleats in front indicated mercy (jin), justice (gi), courtesy (rei), wisdom (chi) and faith (shin) and the one in the rear stands for truth (makato). Perhaps this pleat "meaning" has moved in a myth.

[Highlander31]

I would have to agree, nothing more than a story.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Wow, you think after being in this business for 13 years, I would have heard all the insane myths, but nope, every so often a new one comes around that floors me!

The earliest surviving tailored kilt that can be documented is a Gordon regimental kilt c. 1796, which is made from 3 yards, 2 inches of cloth and has 21 box pleats.

A civilian kilt we have in our museum that is from about the same time period (c. 1800), in the MacDuff tartan is made from 4 yards of cloth and has only 6 box pleats.

There also is a Seaforth kilt (MacKenzie tartan) in the Fort William museum from the same general time period (1796-1800) that is made from 3 yards, 29 inches, and has 16 box pleats.

Just one more example; we have a Locheil tartan kilt in our museum from the early 19th century (1800-1820) that has 12 box pleats.

I could give more examples, but this gives a pretty good sampling of some of the earliest tailored kilts, both civilian and military, and you can see the number of pleats varies quite a bit.

Usually when confronted with myths like this, knowing a little bit of history helps a lot!

[Ozark Ridge Rider]

Thanks, guys, and Matt, you are so right - a little bit of history sheds a lot of light.

This is just what I suspected, but thought I would check it out with people far more knowledgeable than I.

Thanks again,
Dan

[Urchurdan]

Had a friend pose a question today: He heard somewhere that there were only 7 pleats in the first kilts, representing the original (?) 7 clans.

Only true if my Clan was one of the seven, otherwise its bunkum....

[McFarkus]

Fascinating.