Women in Kilts?

[Jackson]

+2 on the "I'll wait right here!"

Jackson

[Ancienne Alliance]

AA, Lady C looks beautiful in that photo, I have always liked it!

Is the kilt she's wearing a box pleat? It looks like she used the pleats to adjust the waist to hip ratio perfectly by making V line into the pleats (not sure if I am describing this correctly) but I love the look! (Near her waist, she made the two vertical white lines form a V shape at the top of the pleat?)

Thank you for your kind words,

Yes, Lady Chrystel is here wearing her own Double Box pleated kilt, bespoke to her figure and obviously... made to measure ;


Best,

Robert

[TurboKittie]

Robert, it certainly does show her talent as well as her beauty. You are a lucky man indeed.

[Ancienne Alliance]

Robert, it certainly does show her talent as well as her beauty. You are a lucky man indeed.

Thank you !

But as I have always said … and stressed !

I consider myself “fortunate” , not “lucky”.


best,

Robert

[Kinetikat]

My kilt arrived!! So excited!

Have just buckled it straight on over my jeans and t-shirt, looks hilarious but wow, what a swish!

I was expecting it to feel like wearing a skirt, but actually the 'feel' of the garment is quite different - I see now why it's called a 'tank'; it's heavy and a tad stiff due to the heavy fabric and the lining, etc., and feels very much like I'm wearing some genteel form of armour! Very cosy and reassuring to wear.

The Heritage of Scotland tartan looked very blue in the eBay photos, and now turns out to be very dark blue-black-purple with a double white stripe. Not quite as expected, but really nice. And the pleats!! I keep doing a little hip wiggle in front of the mirror because I just can't believe how very, very, VERY swishy the thing is.

The very best chain-mail skirt I've ever owned. Photos to follow!

Sue

[glenlivet]

And the pleats!! I keep doing a little hip wiggle in front of the mirror

In this case, videos or it didn't happen! Yes, yes, I know, hypocritical of me to post as my own kilt pics are still pending...

[OC Richard]

In the Pipe Band scene, the history of the dress of female band members makes for an interesting study.

Pipe bands were originally an all-male thing. Then arose seperate bands for women, the so-called "ladies' pipe bands".

Their dress was quite different from male pipe bands of the same period, but similar to what women competing in Highland Dancing (also originally an all-male thing) were wearing.

Here are a couple "ladies' pipe bands" from the 1960s and 1970s:





This album cover is very interesting, showing a fairly early example of a woman playing in an otherwise male band:



And the pipe band I played in, in the 1980s, likewise made a distinction in dress between the women and the men. The men wore kilt hose and ghillies, the women female hosery and shoes. The men wore shirts and neckties, the women lace blouses. The women did not wear sporrans.

This photo, showing a group of piping instructors from c1981, shows a common dress of piping women at that time. Note the dedicated women's pipe band shoes still being worn (as in the ladies' pipe band photos above) and the female version of the Regulation Doublet being worn by the woman on the far left



Then for whatever reason all of this was done away with and by the 1990s the women were dressed like the men (how quickly can you pick out the five women here?)



which continues to this day for band playing



and for solos



But not always! This woman competes (and wins) at the highest level in a form of dress quite different from the men

[Jackson]

As I've said before, our girls add a swing to the pleats in a kilt that no man can mimic!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jackson

[Woodsman]

As I've said before, our girls add a swing to the pleats in a kilt that no man can mimic!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jackson

Here,here!

Now that my wife has accepted my wearing the kilt, I'm trying to get her into one.

[MacMillans son]

But not always! This woman competes (and wins) at the highest level in a form of dress quite different from the men

Out of sincere curiosity, if women have appropriate women's clothing to wear in competition, why do some prefer to wear men's clothing when solo piping? I can't imagine a man showing up for competition in the outfit that lovely lady is wearing. I even have trouble understanding it in band piping, but I assume uniformity is the reason there.

I'm not wanting to offend anyone's wife, or sister, or mother, or friend, or... but I think women always look better in a pleated tartan skirt, designed and constructed for a woman, than in a man's garment somehow adapted for them. I'm somewhat old fashion I guess.