Pleat Options for the IPA Tartan

[Mike in Dayton]

Not sure where I came across this material. For a long time I did not know what tartan it was. Turns out it is the International Police Association. I was going to use it for the first Kilt Kamp I attended but ended up using Earl of St. Andrews. Decided to go ahead and make a kilt out of this. Originally I was going to pleat to the yellow stripe but decided to give that some thought. Anyone know how this tartan is normally pleated? The yellow and red stripe has two thin stripes on each side. The width is about 3/4" so with a 3/4" pleat at the hips the small stripes will probably disappear in the taper. Using 1" pleats will preserve the smaller stripes.

[kiltedwolfman]

I'm not sure how most would pleat this but when I look at the picture I find that the option showing to the light blue band just seems to speak to me; metaphorically of course.

[unixken]

Myself, I'm more partial to the dark blue. I think the red becomes too "busy", the yellow not quite so much. Between the light and the dark blue, I'm being practical in that a lighter backside might be more apt to show dirt from sitting on a dirty bench, etc., and might thus require more frequent cleanings (and thus require more frequent re-basting and pressing, and so on.)

And with dark pleats, the lighter colors of the apron make the apron visually "pop", whereas with lighter pleats, the darker colors of the apron might visually "subdue" the tartan.

Just my thoughts. It's a nice tartan regardless of what you ultimately decide!

[Hawk]

As a former Law Enforcement Officer, and just strictly looking at the material colors, this is my preference. But as Ken said above, ultimately it's your choice. If there are any other Officers out there on XMTS, retired, current or otherwise that have experience with this tartan, speak up and help this man out. It is my opinion that the yellow is an honor, trim and/or accent color and might not be good as a primary to pleat to. Here's my choice:

Hawk

[HippieLee]

I'm with Ken on the dark blue being my favorite. That's going on looks and my personal preferences only - if there is other meaning in doing it differently then surely that must be considered.


But really I thought this thread was about an India Pale Ale tartan.

[Grizzled Ian]

Yeah, that's what I thought too, HippieLee, IPA comes in a glass!