Traditional Plaid

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I posted this in a differed thread (in the For Sale section) but I thought it might get a bit more exposure, here. I made a blog post about a recent style of plaid I was experimenting with, modelled after one mentioned in the 1901 book, The Kilt & How to Wear It.

It's a "half belted plaid" for lack of a better term. Like the modern fly plaid, it's meant to mimic the upper part of the old belted plaid (or feilidh-mor). Unlike the modern fly plaid, it actually does that job fairly well.

My blog posting is here:
http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/2008/0...ats-plaid.html

Here are the teaser pics. First, the illustration I was going by:


Now, my recreation:

[J.B. Simpson]

Very nice looking!! You look very sharp as usual Matt.

[sirdaniel1975]

Very nice, I definitely prefer this look to the fly plaid for all kinds of reasons as to which I will not go in to....

I enjoyed your blog on it as well!

[ardchoille]

I've never liked the fly plaids, but I like what you've done there Matt

[Ryan Ross]

Well done, buddy! I've read about these things, but never actually seen one before. While the fly plaid has never really appealed to me, this plaid you've constructed looks quite sharp.

EDIT: Would this plaid not be similar to one of the ones mentioned in So You're Going To Wear The Kilt?

[Bob C]

What's the difference between this and tucking in a fly plaid?

[Nick the DSM]

hey, thats looks cool! great fine man!

[Mael Coluim]

Great look Matt! A very interesting blog article to read about your investigation in to another version of wearing the plaid.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

What's the difference between this and tucking in a fly plaid?

Well, the largest difference is that this is quite larger than most fly plaids. Modern fly plaids vary in size, but most seem to be about 36" x 36". I've seem them as large as 54" x 54" which is approaching the size of this peice.

The plaid I have made is 72" (two yards) long, and 54" wide.

Typical fly plaids today are fringed on all four sizes, and one corner is tailored into pleats. It is this pleated corner that you wear pinned at the shoulder, and the rest is usually left to hang free. I suppose with a larger fly plaid, if you tucked some of the cloth in to your belt in the back, it would approach this in appearance. I don't really think you could make it happen that well with a smaller fly plaid.

This one I have made has the pleating done along the width of it, though, not in a corner. And two of the corners are brought together to pin at the shoulder. The orientation of the plaid is horizontal, also, rather than diagonal, which also adds to the resmblance to the old belted plaid.

[Tattoo Bradley]

I'm also not a fan of the fly plaid. I'm pretty sure I'll never be a "plaid" kind of guy. But, I must say this is worlds better. Great job.