What do you guys think?

[Kiltboy]

***. I just can't get excited about 13 oz. tartan. For the amount of money spent on a quality kilt, I value the swish and feel of 16 oz. and I don't really see the benefit of going to a lighter weight cloth. If heat is an issue, going to a lesser-yardage kilt will offer more benefit than a lighter cloth.

Yep. That says it all.

[artificer]

When I was originally shopping for a material for my box pleat (a 5 yd) I was advised that, since you're already reducing the yardage, you want to keep the material weight as high as possible to preserve a little 'swish' in the pleats.

I had mine made in 15oz Dalgliesh, and now that I have it I know exactly why this was said and I totally agree.

My advice is go for the 16oz.

ith:

[JohntheBiker]

I have a couple of 13oz 8yd kilts and I am perfectly happy with them. However, when I had a box-pleated smaller yardage kilt made, I went for 16oz. No regrets, absolutely the right choice and heat should not really be an issue.

[creagdhubh]

13 oz. seems a little light to me. It gets pretty warm down where I live, but I've never had a problem getting too warm in 16 oz. (I've got a couple of 5-yard casuals, a four-yard box pleat, and three 8-Hardee's, all in 16 oz.)

Box pleats look sharp, but don't swing like knife pleat IMHO.

I'll be curious to see how it comes out!

***

Agreed.

[ForresterModern]

Maybe a compromise with a slightly higher yardage kilt in say a Kingussie or reverse Kingussie pleating would allow you to use the 13 oz but give you more overall weight of fabric to solidify and stabilize the whole thing while still being lighter weight and more heat tolerant.. Kingussies catch good air and ventilation due to the forward facing edges of the knife pleats on both sides, while reverse kingussies are less prone to do so and easier to do a two handed pleat sweep when you sit down.

[TheOfficialBren]

Hmm...so many options.
16oz is looking more and more appealing, though.
How is the swing different with box and Kingussie pleats? I only own knife pleats.

[McElmurry]

I wear an eight yarder in 13 oz HOE and it has plenty of swish. However, I do notice that the apron drapes around my legs a bit more than 16 oz. Matt Newsome has described the 13 oz as a bit less masculine looking than the 16 oz and I don't disagree although 8 yards of 13 oz wool looks a lot more like 8 yards of 16 oz than it does 5 yards of PV.

That being said I would not have a 4 yard box pleat made from 13 oz because the pleats will not be as crisp as seen in post 13 in the thread linked below.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...30/index2.html

I have a four yard box pleat in 16 oz in the works and plan on eventually getting a six yard knife pleat in 13 oz but I am not currently in a position to compare the two options.

[Tobus]

Hmm...so many options.
16oz is looking more and more appealing, though.
How is the swing different with box and Kingussie pleats? I only own knife pleats.

A Kingussie style kilt is made with knife pleats. They just don't all go the same direction all the way around. They go opposite directions on each side of the kilt, meeting at a central pleat in the rear. And while a Kingussie will swish differently than a standard knife pleated kilt, you're still getting the action of knife pleats.

A low-yardage box pleat isn't going to have much swish at all. It will have some degree of "bellows" effect, but I would not call it "swish". On the other hand, though, a high-yardage box pleat will have as much swish as a knife pleat, possibly even more. Swish is a function of mass, as it moves back and forth with the swaying of your gait. The more mass you have in the pleats, the more of a pendulum effect you'll get from it as you walk. That's swish.

Just looking through my random photos, here are two showing some walking action from behind. The first pic is a low-yardage box pleat. The second is a high-yardage knife pleat. I wish I had one of my military box pleat, but sadly I don't. Anyway, even though these photos weren't necessarily taken for an "apples to apples" comparison, you can judge for yourself which one seems to have more swish...

That being said I would not have a 4 yard box pleat made from 13 oz because the pleats will not be as crisp as seen in post 13 in the thread linked below.

I wouldn't say that this is a function of using lighter weight wool. My 16-oz 4-yard box pleated kilt has that same issue if I don't regularly press the pleats. Personally, I think that is just a function of the large, wide box pleat style. The pleating style of the fabric doesn't hold itself to shape.

See, with a higher-yardage knife pleat, the deep overlapping action of the pleats tends to keep the fabric captive. The pleats aren't prone to opening up or losing their crease because the weight of all the overlapping material makes it want to stay put. And on higher-yardage box pleats (like the so-called military box pleat), you get much the same effect. The bulk of the pleats keep their crease pretty well, and the only part of a MBP that wants to lose the crease is the "rolled over" portion, and even then, it usually only wants to open up. Not bulge out in a round shape like your example. But on a wide/shallow box pleat like the one you pointed out, the fabric isn't kept in place by anything. Nothing is pressing on the creases to keep them in shape, and so they will lose the crease over time.

At least, that's been my observation.

[Dale Seago]

I just can't get excited about 13 oz. tartan. For the amount of money spent on a quality kilt, I value the swish and feel of 16 oz. and I don't really see the benefit of going to a lighter weight cloth. If heat is an issue, going to a lesser-yardage kilt will offer more benefit than a lighter cloth.

Agreed. I have a 5-yard US Army tartan kilt in 13-oz wool from USAK. It's a perfectly fine and well-made kilt, but I find it's the one I wear least. All my others are heavyweight fabrics (16 oz, & a couple of 15); the heavier fabric just looks, hangs, and swishes better.

[TheOfficialBren]

Thanks, chaps. I think I'm sold on heavier-weighted wool...probably Kingussie pleated. Knife pleats are fine but so common. I want something different from the norm but still firmly rooted in THCD.