Quote Originally Posted by DrummerBoy View Post
(emphasis added)
That is one way to do it. I don't dispute that it may be the best way and the historically correct way to do it. But it is not the only way to do it. It could be done in one step, stitching a left and right pleat edge together, running the stitches through the center of the underlying pleat. There may be a reason for not doing it this way of which I am unaware. I have done three inverted pleats that way with satisfactory results.
Anyone who wishes can see how I make box pleats by downloading the supplement to The Art of Kiltmaking I did with Barb T.
http://scottishtartans.org/boxpleat.html

It's the way I was taught, and based on all historical examples I have seen, it's the way it was originally done. I'm not meaning to sound confrontational, but I honestly don't see why someone would do it any differently. Perhaps I'll have to take some pictures or make some more drawings to illustrate that I am taking about. A picture is worth a thousand words!

I feel that many people think a box pleat is made by first making a knife pleat by folding the fabric over to the right, and sewing that down to the fabric below it; then making a knife pleat right next to it by folding the cloth over to the left, so that the edge of the pleat butts up against its neighbor, and sewing that pleat down to the fabric below it. So that one box pleat is formed by sewing two opposing knife pleats.

That's not how it is done at all. I suppose someone could do it that way, but I don't see any advantage to it. It would be a lot of extra work, and wouldn't have any advantages.

I'll have to sketch out what the pleat looks like as its being sewn and let folks see how the "box" is formed. I think that will answer many questions.


And they would be right. When the box becomes considerably smaller than the underlying knife pleat, it tales on an entirely different look as well as structure. The "military box pleat" is in fact a small box pleat superimposed upon a larger knife pleat. "Military knife pleat" wold be just as accurate a description, since the knife pleat, being larger, is the dominant factor in the structure. No one would understand that description, but that is because of common usage rather than structure.

I t could be argued that since the outer box pleat is what you see, at least while the wearer and the wind are still, "box pleat" is a more fitting description. But common usage of "box pleat" again brings to mind an entirely different style -- considerably larger pleats with no larger underlying knife pleat.

I don't have a dog in this hunt and I am certainly no expert. My interest is as a rank amateur, but very enthusiastic student of kilts and kilt making. I am also a big fan of terms that accurately describe objects and processes. TCHD and kilts are areas sometimes lacking in clear definitions. Trying to lump "military box pleat" in as a minor variation of "box pleat" doesn't help. They have much in common, but are different enough to deserve two separate definitions, in my very humble opinion.
Does a four yard "traditional boix pleat" look a whole heckuvalot different from an eight yard "military box pleat?" You betcha.

Does a four yard knife pleated kilt look a lot different from an eight yard knife pleated kilt? Of course it does. In either case the difference in appearance is a direct result of the amount of fabric used, not the pleating style. We don't need different terms to describe a knife pleat made using different amounts of cloth. My position is that we don't require different terms for box pleats, either.

First of all, I think it is a mistake to use the term "military" to describe an eight yard box pleated kilt. There are many reasons for this. One of which is that the original tailored kilts worn by the military were all box pleated, and all contained four yards (or less!) of cloth. So why wouldn't the four yard box pleated kilt be described as "military?" That would be just as accurate.

Second, the knife pleated kilt seems to have been introduced by the military, being used first by the Gordon Highlanders in 1853. So why not refer to the knife pleated kilts as the "military" style? That would be just as accurate.

Of course, not all regiments wore the knife pleated kilt after this date. Some military regiments, as we have discussed, retained the traditional box pleat style (traditional here in the sense that the regiments always wore that style). And, over time, as fashion dictated the amount of cloth used in a kilt increase, these kilts were made with more and more yardage. The average amount of cloth used in kilt c. 1800 was four yards. By 1840 the average amount (according to Bob Martin) was about 5.5 yards. There is a Gordon Highlander's kilt from 1881 in the Regimental Museum in Aberdeen made with six yards. A Queen's Own Highlanders kilt in their regimental museum from 1906 contains only six and a half yards. Today we have our nominal eight yard norm for kilts.

Even though box pleats were still worn by civilians even into the late nineteenth century, by the twentieth century, civilian kilts were almost universally knife pleated, so it was really only a few regiments who preserved the box pleating style. So it is understandable that people would come to associate the box pleat with the military but I maintain that it is a bit of a misnomer. Box pleats have never been reserved only for the military, and the knife pleat is associated with military kilts just as much as the box pleat.

Further, if we reserve the term "box pleat" for a four yard kilt, and use "military box pleat" to describe an eight yard kilt, then what do we call a five yard kilt made with this type of pleat? Or a six yard kilt? Or seven? When does it cross that magic line and become a "military box pleated kilt?"

In my mind it is very simple. Knife pleats all run in one direction. Box pleats run both left and right. The depth of the pleats, and the amount of material used is of no bearing to this basic definition.

The simplest and best way to describe a kilt is refer to the style of pleat (either knife or box) and the amount of cloth used. So you can have a "four yard box pleated kilt" or a "seven yard knife pleated kilt" or a "six and a half yard box pleated kilt," etc. No need to attach any other terms to our description to muddy the waters.