Kilt length OK?

[Geoff Withnell]

Tobus is 100% correct. The height is fine. Especially if you are going to be moving/running a lot in the kilt. A too long kilt irritates the dickens out of the back of the knee!

[Tobus]

Tobus is 100% correct. The height is fine. Especially if you are going to be moving/running a lot in the kilt. A too long kilt irritates the dickens out of the back of the knee!

Absolutely. Especially when it's a 'hard' material like duck cloth, and has a bottom stitched hem. And it's not just the backs of the knees that will get irritated. The fronts too. That inside edge of the hem will rub up and down on the kneecap as you walk. As much hiking as I do in my Utilikilt, I learned that lesson pretty quickly. It's not that it ever really becomes a painful show-stopper like a heel blister, but it's just annoying. So wearing a utility-style kilt high when doing a lot of walking or running is simply good sense. And when I say high, I mean high enough over the top of the knee where it's not an issue.

[TyGuy]

Geoff - I already noticed that this one hits the back of my knees a little when I move quickly in it. It's not annoying, but I could TOTALLY see how that would be annoying in a longer one.

Ok, good, so it sounds like I don't look like I'm wearing my wife's mini-skirt. Thank you all. I was really afraid that I would have to have it remade, thus throwing away $200!

Any other comments are appreciated.

BTW - this kilt was made by Bilt Kilts, a division of Burnetts and Struth. Brandon there answered all of my questions and really did a great job helping me out. I can't speak highly enough of him.

[TyGuy]

It might be that the kilt itself is fine, but that two things are making me worry.

1) people seem to wear kilts down to the bottom of their knee caps now - which I personally would find annoying as I like my shorts to hit about mid knee or higher

and

2) I might just be a little self-conscious as this is my first kilt. Normally I just do what I want, and I don't worry about what others think, but I am a bit nervous about all of this. Don't get me wrong, I am not a jerk or anything, but I don't really care to live my life always worried about what others think. Be kind to one another, follow the law, and then live how you want to live, and I'll live how I want to live. I've always kinda marched to a different drummer, which is funny, because I voluntarily joined the very regimented life of a military man for 8 years. Yeah, I'm a walking contradiction, walking in a kilt now!

[Mike_Oettle]

TyGuy, maybe this is a woman thing. My wife is forever at me about the “ridiculous” length of my kilts.
Where she gets the idea from that a kilt must sit at the bottom of the knee is beyond me, but I am tired of the way she tells me they are too long when, in fact, they are the right length, although occasionally they slip down a bit – in other words, they are too long in appearance, but she seems to think they are then “right”.
Heaven knows when she will get a more balanced view of things, but perhaps it will be when she sees me in a proper Scottish “tank”.
Regards,
Mike

[TyGuy]

My wife has been great about this quest of mine from the start. I have wanted to join the ranks of kilt wearers since high shcool, but we didn't know enough of our geneology to tell where we came from. Over the past few years my grandmother, mother, and I have worked to figure it out, and we discovered our Broun heritage. I am trying to get paperwork together to ask to join Clan Broun, and I hope that everything is in order there. As such, my wife knew that I wanted a kilt for a long time. She encourages me to enjoy wearing it, she figures most Americans wont' know the proper length protocols anyway. She's a Godsend.

Thank you all. Now I just need to get home and change back into it!

[guardsman]

I am a traditionalist , but you look good to me,SO welcome

[Tobus]

It might be that the kilt itself is fine, but that two things are making me worry.

1) people seem to wear kilts down to the bottom of their knee caps now - which I personally would find annoying as I like my shorts to hit about mid knee or higher

LOL, I'm the same way. I don't understand the (recent) American trend of wearing baggy shorts that hang halfway down the calves. To me, those aren't shorts. They're slops. To me, a pair of shorts should be above the knee. And it's pretty dang hard to find shorts of this length any more! Most retail stores only carry shorts that hang below the knee, which I find absolutely annoying. I can't wear them.

I think a lot of Americans who don't understand Scottish kilts have come into kilt-wearing with an incorrect preconceived notion that a kilt should look like the baggy shorts they're used to. This seems to have become de rigeur for American contemporary kilts, which in fairness probably originated amongst punk, grunge, and other subcultures. Even the frontrunner of modern utility-style kilts (Utilikilts) recommends the length to be to the bottom of the knee. So it's seen as odd by folks who only know this style to see one worn at the top of the knee in the Scottish style. I've heard some of them make comments that it looks like a woman's skirt if not worn below the knee.

But still, I prefer above the knee. Just be prepared in case someone comments on it, and tell them that even though it's not a traditional Scottish kilt, you prefer to wear it the same length as the Scots do. There are many practical reasons for it, and the Scots knew what they were doing.

[TyGuy]

I plan on also wearing traditional kilts, but I wanted a more robust one to start with as I plan on participating in some competitions with it where I need it to hold up to some abuse.

[cck]

You are wearing a contemporary design kilt which, in my opinion, allows for a bit more leeway in fitting. Nevertheless, what you are doing is within the normal range of kilt length. In this rare instance, it looks like everyone is in agreement - don't sweat the length -enjoy the kilt.