New kilt and Pleat ideas

[biblemonkey]

Greetings kilties!

This Christmas my family has said that they are going to help me buy a Graham of Mentieth Weathered kilt.

Here's an example of the tartan
http://www.usakilts.com/store/tartan...w&gazimage=702

Chances are I will be getting an 8 yarder in 16 oz though not fully certain of the company. The questions I have are thus, what pleating style is your favorite and why? What pleating gives the best "swing"? What pleating gives the most eye catching presentation? What pleating is just plain beautiful?

This is the first time I will have a kilt made just for me and having pleating options is new for me. Since this is my clan (Graham) tartan I also wanted any suggestions on making the kilt a little "more than ordinary" if there is a pleat style that is really eye catching and shows of the tartan at it's best. Pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Hugh

[Paul Henry]

Generally what looks best, is what looks best to you, and it hard for anyone else to give you advice, only opinons!
I think that a knife pleat in a 8 yard/16 oz gives the best swing and swish, unless you go for a military box pleat,but not all makers offer that, it's not the same as a "box pleat"

Ask your kiltmaker to show some pinned fabric samples , that really is the best way to get an idea, and trust your maker as well, some tartans work better in certain ways, and they will be able to help with that.
Pleating to the stripe offers more differences as different lines can be chosen, so that the back and the front can be very different. Some like the differences , some feel the "sett" is better, but to the line might well offer more eye catching chances!

[azwildcat96]

I agree with paulhenry, in that the best look is the one that you like. I also agree that in an 8yd 16oz tank, a knife pleat seems to be a very good solid choice.

I will offer one suggestion regarding the type of pleating (sett vs. stripe). I personally like the look of pleats to the stripe. However, when I purchased my first and only tank, I took the advise of my kiltmaker, and agreed to have it pleated to the sett. Why??? Because my chosen tartan (the one in my avatar) has a thin red stripe, and many tartans pleated to the stripe are to a white (or at least light) stripe. We were not sure if the red stripe would show well, and didn't want to take the risk.

Your chosen tartan has a pair of thin white stripes. I imagine that you could select one or the other to center on the pleats, and that might look very good. Or you could just go with pleating to the sett. Decisions can be so difficult! Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll be happy. I know I am, although I keep telling myself that I will have a second kilt in my lifetime, and it will be pleated to the stripe.

[xman]

I personally like the look of pleats to the stripe. However, when I purchased my first and only tank, I took the advise of my kiltmaker, and agreed to have it pleated to the sett.

I also prefer stripe pleating, but pleated my first wool kilt to sett because it presented the muted colour scheme better.

Graham of Menteith doesn't have a lot of colour in it. I'd want to see a pleating to one of the white stripes pinned up. It would likely catch some of the black which might give some nice texture.

[rsvpiper]

I would go with pleat to stripe recon that would set the kilt off loverly

[wildrover]

The traditional knife pleat has a good snap to the swing, in a 16x8. Your kiltmaker should be able to send you photos of pleating to the sett or to different stripes.

[longhuntr74]

Regarding pleating...you'll just have to figure out what you like. I don't think that either of the white stripes would work well (or at least I wouldn't make one pleated to that stripe) because they are so close to the edge of the "field"...which I think would make every pleat look like a tri-color flag. Pleating to the black narrow stripe would be a logical choice for pleating to the stripe...but follow the advice already given about having some options pinned up to see what you like best.

My real reason for posting was to offer something not addressed yet. You mention you want something to set your kilt apart from "the norm". With the weathered earthy colors of your tartan, I would suggest that you might request brown kilt straps instead of black. Check out the ones that Barb used on Hamish's 100th kilt from Robert at RKilts....I've got some black ones like them that I've used on a Black Watch kilt....they are beautiful, ornate, and different!!

[Pleater]

It looks like a really nice tartan, pleating to the set seems to be the best option for such lovely hues. How could you pick which ones to hide?

I was thinking of an even more radical option of grey leather in a mid to dark shade, to emphasis the toned down quality of the colours.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Barb T]

If you're considering only a knife-pleated kilt, the style of pleatings (to the sett or to the stripe) has no influence on the swing. Which you choose will marginally affect the pleat depth, but that won't change the swing.

I agree with Longhuntr that the pale blue stripe is not a good choice for pleating to the stripe. Whatever stripe you choose should be centered in the pleat, and the pale blue stripe is too close to the edge of the color block to make this work. And the pleat should be symmetrical (stripe centered in the element, same color/s on each side of the stripe.