Thanks for the input, fellas.

I do wish my kilt wasn't so long. When I ordered it, I had been measured here in the States by a seamstress that works on kilts, but who was not the actual kilt maker. After sending these measurements to the kiltmaker (Hugh MacPherson- Edinburgh), they said it needed to be longer (???). When I questioned this, they said that some men even wear it to their first rib. Against my gut (no pun intended) I went with a longer length (they're the experts, right?), and now regret it very much.

With my odd waist, when worn at the proper knee level, the kilt foreshortens my trunk and looks very odd and also makes it difficult to wear a casual shirt. In these pictures the top of the kilt is a full handswidth above my navel, which somehow has become my rule of thumb for where to wear my kilt. If I am wearing a buttoned up kilt waistcoat everything looks fine though. The aforementioned 3" belt helps quite a bit, too, but is somewhat bulky at times.

So the plan is to have Mr Newsome, who got my measurements himself, make me one of his excellent four yard box-pleat kilts (in Weathered MacGregor) with the proper length. Now just as soon as I win the lottery...