Kilt with 80 pleats

[OC Richard]

I was watching this video of D Chisholm Inverness (the kiltmaker, not the undertaker) and was amazed when he showed the viewer a vintage kilt with, he says, 80 pleats! I had no idea.

See at 2:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ7JaIn2eI

[Katia]

I would've loved to see more of the movement of it... the little we did get to see was lovely!

[Tarheel]

A Frasier Family tartan (he says). I was not surprised at the amount of fading in the pleats compared to the under apron. I too would like to see the movement and swish.

[neloon]

I would've loved to see more of the movement of it... the little we did get to see was lovely!

But think of pressing all those pleats, Katia!

Alan

[Pegasys]

now I am sooo conflicted and crying ... I am planning on a Fergusson Ancient tartan kilt sometime early next year and those pleats have captivated my imagination .
Thank You OC Richard my purchase was ALMOST all planned

But think of pressing all those pleats, Katia!

Alan

[tundramanq]

WOW, and the pleats look deep - guessing 4 pleats deep. Imagine the pile of fabric from doing the cutaways. Someone had a lot of time, skill and patience.

[Taskr]

perhaps the way to get a good 'swish' from the lighter weight tartan cloth I have. hhhmmmm

[MacGumerait]

I was watching this video of D Chisholm Inverness (the kiltmaker, not the undertaker) and was amazed when he showed the viewer a vintage kilt with, he says, 80 pleats! I had no idea.

See at 2:45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ7JaIn2eI

I am certainly not a kiltmaker , although I do understand the basics of the construction of a traditional kilt .

If it's really true , a kilt with 80 pleats would need some explanation , I don't see how that is possible even on a large person .

The best heavy weight 8 yd kilts will have between 28 to 34 pleats , or at least somewhere in that range . Of course all of this depends on body size , the particular tartan and the pleating selection .

Perhaps our XMarks kiltmakers can shed some light .

Cheers , Mike

[Pleater]

I have a kilt - somewhere - with numerous pleats, as the fabric is striped and I wanted to have the red showing only on the aprons. To hide the red stripe I had to have the grey/black/white part showing so I pressed in the outer folds from the centre back outwards - it is a reverse Kingussie style.

When I reached the edge of the aprons I measured and pinned all the pleats at hip level and found out just how many there were - but I went on to complete the kilt having come so far.
I was simply working with an average length of fabric to get the effect I wanted, a side effect of that was the multiplicity of pleats.

The 80 pleat kilt might have been made from a tartan with a large sett and rather than have fewer larger pleats it was made with multiple small ones. That is perfectly possible if there are several places where pleats could be made - the narrowness of the visible part of the pleats could assist in this, giving more options for where a pleat could be placed.

Anne the Pleater

[Katia]

But think of pressing all those pleats, Katia!

Alan

Aye, I'd save up to hire someone! (And to do the basting too...)