highland warrior's kilt

[Captain]

Some people remain convinced that "proper kilt length" is determined by measuring from your waist to the floor while kneeling, but this usually results in a kilt at least 2" too long

That's the only way I've been told to measure for kilt length... Is there a better way?

[GlassMan]

That's the only way I've been told to measure for kilt length... Is there a better way?

Visit your kilt maker in person and have them measure you!

Sorry, had to say it.

In truth I never wear my kilts lower than the top of my knee and I've got a couple cut higher than that. I have no problem showing my legs, even though they are not the best looking things in the world.

My partner Nope has taken to wearing a couple of very high set kilts lately. One of them stops a good 3 inches above the knee. When we were out one day (he was pushing me in my wheelchair) a lady came up and stopped the two of us. I had thought that she would be giving us a hard time about our clothing, but instead she simply wanted to express her frustration that Nopadon's legs were good enough to pull off a short kilt but her's couldn't!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

That's the only way I've been told to measure for kilt length... Is there a better way?

Stand up, back straight, and have someone else measure for you this way (if you try and measure yourself, you'll mess up the measurement by bending down):

Take a cloth tape and put the number 2 on the top of your hipbone (assuming your kilt is to be made with a standard 2" rise). Then measure straight down the side of the leg to the point you want the kilt to fall. As I said, anywhere from mid-knee to about an inch above the top of the knee is generally considered appropriate. I personally prefer no longer than the top of the knee.

This gives you your total kilt length measurement. Be sure to talk to your kiltmaker, though. Some kiltmakers consider the rise of the kilt separately from the kilt length, so in that case you'd want to just measure from the top of the hipbone down without adding the 2" for the rise. The kiltmaker will add that amount to the kilt. This is why you sometimes will see kilt lengths expressed such as "22 + 2 = 24." This means the "kilt length" is 22" from waist to knee, and the 2" rise makes the total length of the kilt 24".

That's really more of an issue when the kiltmaker is dealing with rises of varying lengths. Most, though, will always be 2" so it's becoming more and more common to just include that 2" rise as part of the total kilt length and just give the kiltmaker one number. The 2" rise is then assumed to be part of that total.

Always talk to your kiltmaker to be sure, though!
Aye,
Matt