21st Century kilts, or Utilikilts?

[OC Richard]

Here on the USA west coast I had seen firsthand the appearance of the Utilikilt and the immediate impact it had on kiltwearing here.

The year was 2000. A guy in Seattle, Steven Villegas, created a new sort of garment and dubbed it the Utilikilt. It sort of followed the flat apron in front, pleated in back format of the kilt but took cues from trousers like side and back pockets and being held up by a belt going through belt-loops all around. The narrow front aprons fastened with a series of snaps/poppers and there were huge cargo pockets on each side.

He adamant from the get-go that his creation wasn't a Scottish kilt and had nothing to do with Highland Dress. Generally made from black, blue, or tan denim, he also offered them in camouflage and Hawai'ian prints, but stated that he would absolutely never make one in tartan.

I remember seeing them for the first time, at a Highland Games, where he had set up a Utilikilt booth. It was packed with customers, he sold tons of them that weekend.

Within a couple years we saw more people wearing Utilikilts than kilts at our local Highland Games.

He sold 750 Utilikilts in 2000. He sold 11,000 in 2003.

Within a few years his invention was being widely copied by firms in the USA, Scotland, and Pakistan.

That was the whole story, I thought. But hold on, then on another thread here I found out about Howie Nicholsby. I'd heard about and seen 21st Century Kilts in Edinburgh but I hadn't realised that Nicholsby's creation predated Utilikilts by four years.

Nicholsby comes from a long line of traditional tailors and kiltmakers. His great-grandfather was a tailor for Forsyths in Princes Street, his grandmother was a kiltmaker in the interwar years, and of course his father is a tailor and founder of the Edinburgh firm Geoffrey Tailor.

Nicholsby says that for his sister's wedding in 1996 he decided to have a different sort of kilt made. He wanted a traditional 8-yard kilt, but have it made from "silver snakeskin PVC" that he had bought in London.

This led him to found 21st Century Kilts, a firm-within-a-firm. He's dressed many celebrities who have been attracted to the unique look of his creations.

Still, Nicholsby's work is quite different to Villegas' in that he makes what are essentially traditional kilts of nontraditional fabrics, though often with enormous detached pockets (or whatever those are) on the sides.

Here on the left are three Howie Nicholsby 21 Century Kilts outfits, and on the right are two Steven Villegas Utilikilts.

[TheVintageLibertine]

Yes, the square shapes on the brown tweed(?) and Lovat green kilts are detachable pockets, fixed in place with buttons. Howie Nicholsby says the pockets aren’t meant to be worn in formal settings.

The pockets are not exactly the most clean look, but I can see the utility for casual settings. In suit or black tie mode, I put my wallet and cellphone in my coat pockets, then use my sporran for miscellaneous items, like keychain, car-key-fob, etc. Personally, in casual modes without a coat, I always struggle fitting everything into my sporran.

[bookish]

I'm not really a fan of the Utilikilt. If I have learned anything from watching Project Runway, designers hate "costume." This is a nebulous term which could be employed to present personal taste as an objective fact. So, when I say that the Utilikilt looks too much like costume, I realize that I'm entering unstable ground for objective defense. Especially when Highland wear already stands out among current fashion trends and conventions, and can appear to other eyes to be costume in and of itself. Perhaps it is better to say that the Utilikilt lacks restraint.

As for 21st century kilts, these kilts are simpler. They seem to have the classic silhouette. To my eye they appear to be worn a little lower on the waist, but that could simply be a matter of style and the effect of the external pockets vs wearing the sporran. I do wonder if it's the "attitude" of the kilt itself.

Honestly, I'd love to see one close-up, and a side-by-side comparison with a more "traditional" kilt.

[OC Richard]

As for 21st century kilts, these kilts are simpler. They seem to have the classic silhouette. To my eye they appear to be worn a little lower on the waist, but that could simply be a matter of style and the effect of the external pockets vs wearing the sporran. I do wonder if it's the "attitude" of the kilt itself.

Honestly, I'd love to see one close-up, and a side-by-side comparison with a more "traditional" kilt.

I read some Nicholsby interviews and he's said things to the effect that his kilts are traditionally made kilts, but made from nontraditional fabrics.

I've got on my soapbox repeatedly about the issue of men wearing their kilts too low at the hips, and then noticing that their knees are covered and having their kilts shortened to compensate.

This results in adult kilts being made in lengths which up until recently would only have been seen in kilts made for youths.

So I was very pleased to hear Nicholsby say that "for a man around six foot a kilt should be 24 or 25 inches" which is in the realm of traditional kilt lengths.

I'm 6 foot 3 and I have my kilts made in a length of 25.5 inches.

[bookish]

I'm 6 foot 3 and I have my kilts made in a length of 25.5 inches.

Same here, actually. Though a nurse told me recently that I wasn't quite 6'3". I'll still round up! My torso is a little shorter relative to my leg length. A 25.5 length kilt sits at mid-knee for me, and looks quite long. I don't yet have a good kilt belt, and I'm sure that would break up that length which I use waiscoats and jackets to do. I wonder what 21st c. kilt pockets would look like on me. I don't think I see much or hear much talking about body proportions when discussing kilt wearing/styling outfits, but that's a topic for another day.

[Canadian Vet]

Same here, actually. Though a nurse told me recently that I wasn't quite 6'3". I'll still round up! My torso is a little shorter relative to my leg length. A 25.5 length kilt sits at mid-knee for me, and looks quite long. I don't yet have a good kilt belt, and I'm sure that would break up that length which I use waiscoats and jackets to do. I wonder what 21st c. kilt pockets would look like on me. I don't think I see much or hear much talking about body proportions when discussing kilt wearing/styling outfits, but that's a topic for another day.

I'm an inch taller but I'm all torso. My kilts are made to 23-1/2 inches (and yes, they fit properly).

[OC Richard]

Same here, actually. Though a nurse told me recently that I wasn't quite 6'3". I'll still round up! My torso is a little shorter relative to my leg length. A 25.5 length kilt sits at mid-knee for me, and looks quite long.

I was 6 foot 4 from 8th Grade up until recently, but now in my late 60's I'm shrinking a bit.

Last time I was officially measured I was around 6 foot 3 and a half.

I'm more leg than torso too I think. For me 25.5 is just right, the kilt sitting in the traditional place at top and covering a bit of my kneecap at bottom, which is generally where kilts have been worn for a couple hundred years now.

I was in a pipe band where the only kilt they had for me was 24" and it was just too short. I hated having to have the kilt down around my hips and having a bit of a gap between waistcoat and kilt.

I bought my own band kilt, which I still wear regularly.

[TheVintageLibertine]

I read some Nicholsby interviews and he's said things to the effect that his kilts are traditionally made kilts, but made from nontraditional fabrics.

I've got on my soapbox repeatedly about the issue of men wearing their kilts too low at the hips, and then noticing that their knees are covered and having their kilts shortened to compensate.

This results in adult kilts being made in lengths which up until recently would only have been seen in kilts made for youths.

So I was very pleased to hear Nicholsby say that "for a man around six foot a kilt should be 24 or 25 inches" which is in the realm of traditional kilt lengths.

I'm 6 foot 3 and I have my kilts made in a length of 25.5 inches.

The length of traditional civilian kilts always surprises me. I’m a comparatively short 5’8” but all my kilts are about 24” long, yet sit above my knees. When discussing measurements while having my last kilt made, I realized that’s because I wear kilts unusually high (at the ribcage). My first kilt was a loaner from a pipe and drum band I was in as a teenager. They had an inventory of surplus military kilts that were ludicrously long on my teenage frame’ and ever since I wear kilt higher on my body by habit.

[OC Richard]

In suit or black tie mode, I put my wallet and cellphone in my coat pockets, then use my sporran for miscellaneous items, like keychain, car-key-fob, etc.

Personally, in casual modes without a coat, I always struggle fitting everything into my sporran.

A few years ago I visited the Ohio Scottish Games and discovered that every beer booth had the same three horrid offerings. No outside beverages were allowed.

I had come prepared. In my car was a cooler stocked with superb local IPA, and I entered the grounds with a 16 ounce can tucked in my capacious sporran. (I could carry two 16 ounce cans if I had my wallet and phone in my waistcoat pockets, which I did do later that day.)



(At the West Virginia Highland Games)

[geomick]

A few years ago I visited the Ohio Scottish Games and discovered that every beer booth had the same three horrid offerings. No outside beverages were allowed.

I had come prepared. In my car was a cooler stocked with superb local IPA, and I entered the grounds with a 16 ounce can tucked in my capacious sporran. (I could carry two 16 ounce cans if I had my wallet and phone in my waistcoat pockets, which I did do later that day.)



(At the West Virginia Highland Games)

At two of the local Highland Games, they search sporrans to check for smuggled alcohol (probably expecting flasks instead of cans)