Originally Posted by
Steve Ashton
Warning - Personal rant
All the while he was laying out his 27 feet (9 yards) of single width, modern Tartan fabric, arranging the pleats just so, he kept saying how practical this garment was. He must have said it 4 times in the 15+ min it took him to put it on.
[snip]
Don't worry about perfect pleats or getting the bottom right at the knee. You are looking for warmth and protection. Wrap up nice and snug at night. In the morning shake it out, toss it over your shoulders and off to the latrine you go.
I'm not suggesting that this is proof of what the belted plaide was or how it was worn. But it does seem to make much more practical sense than this.
There is no proof, as you say, but I'm quite confident that you are describing the origin of the "belted plaid" accurately. A couple of thoughts:
First, my observation is that it's more common among Society for Creative Anachronism folk to wear 4-5 yards of fabric. That is, nine or so yards cut in half and sewed together to make a double width. This is much more manageable - and takes a lot less time to assemble.
Second, I suspect - no proof, as I said - that the pleating was simply derived from bunching up a longer piece of fabric in the back so there was less in front. You can't bunch it up *too* much or it's uncomfortable under a belt, so you pleat it. Not carefully, at least not at first; just big simple folds. It's a matter of a couple minutes.
(And in my opinion throwing on a leine makes more sense for a trip to the latrine.)
When in doubt, end with a jig. - Robin McCauley
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