Hi folks

The traditional length for a kilt is actually _top of the knee cap_, not mid-knee (in fact, I've seen it written in several places "may be shorter but never longer"). The woman I learned kiltmaking from apprenticed in Glasgow in 1947 with Thomas Gordon's, and that is what they were taught as well. Both of us measure for a kilt by measuring from the true waist (not top of hip bone) straight down the thigh to the top of the knee cap. If you have someone kneel on the floor and you measure from the waist to the floor, the kilt will be too long.

Worn to mid-knee, there's essentially no "leg" showing between the top of the kilt and the top of the kilt hose, which looks odd. For some reason, many Americans wear their kilts longer than is traditional, and it's made worse by not wearing the kilt at the proper height. Walk around any Highland Games, and you'll see guys with kilts hanging down below the tops of their kilt hose.

It's impossible to correlate body height and kilt length, because it depends on whether someone is high waisted or not, and how long their thigh bones are, both of which vary amongst individuals of the same height. I've made kilts for small women that are inches longer than one for a taller man, and both come to the top of the knee. That's why it's crucial to measure each person.

Barb