The lonely but mighty box-pleat

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I am sure that the lightness of a pleated garment together with cost savings of using less material is bound to be an attractive option for many, particularly in warmer climates.

Yes, and that is precisely what happened. As I said, the modern day revival of the four yard box pleated kilt can be attributed to Bob Martin, who spent most all of his kilt making career in and around Greenville, SC - a much warmer climate that Scotland! As he recounts it, most of his clients were requesting light weight wool for their kilts, because they were afraid the heavy weight would be too hot to wear.

However, as a kilt maker, Bob knew the heavy weight wool to be of superior quality. He was wondering how to convince people living in warmer climates that the heavy weight wool was really the way to go. His friend, Scottish anthropologist and Highland dress enthusiast Michiel MacDonald (and incidentally father of our own resident tartan scholar and hand weaver, Peter MacDonald) recommended that Bob offer the older style of kilt which was box pleated and made from only four yards of cloth. This way he could offer a kilt which has all the advantages of the heavy weight wool, but still be a lighter garment overall.

I have to say it works perfectly for that function!

As to soldiers' kilts, knowing our Ministry of Defence and their notorious reluctance to spend money on the well-being and safety of our troops, which has been the subject of much media attention in recent years, penny-pinching of this kind comes as no surprise whatsoever.

I think you have it wrong here. I don't see how the continued use of box pleated kilts by certain regiments (such as the Camerons and the Seaforths) can be seen as "penny pinching" of any kind. Take a look at the photos of modern-day military box pleated kilts posted a few posts above. These more contemporary kilts were made with a higher amount of cloth and if anything would have cost more to produce than their knife pleated counterparts.