wearer's height?

[ChattanCat]

And I've found pretty consistent differences in height/length proportions for men and women. Women tend to have longer waist/knee distances relative to their heights than men do. Some of the longest kilts I've made have been for women who aren't nearly as tall as the men for whom I've made long kilts. In fact, my daughter's kilt is longer than my husband's by an inch, and she's 5'5" and he's 5"10".

Barb

I concur, from my bicycle racing experience, women have longer legs and a shorter torso. It makes it hard to get road racing bikes to fit the women. Women usually need shorter top tubes. I suppose it is the longer legs that make the kilt longer.

Wallace

[Nanook]

I concur, from my bicycle racing experience, women have longer legs and a shorter torso.

Among the general adult population, on average, they don't. If you now limit the comparison to elite and Cat-1 cyclists, men to women, you'll find that men have the significantly longer legs. Women are, however, shorter within the populace as in cycling. Femurs among men and women also tend to have slightly different shapes. If we limit our selection to adolescents we will see at various stages longer relative limbs for girls and boys tending to also have a higher prevalence of obesity. Its during the period of sexual maturation that the rate of growth for boys increases.

It makes it hard to get road racing bikes to fit the women. Women usually need shorter top tubes.

They need shorter top tubes since they tend, on the whole, to be shorter and, above all, tend to be less willing (or believe they are able) to ride in a forward inclined position due to concerns for "pelvic pressures". Many recreational women cyclists are petit and under the optimal threshold size defined by 700c/28" wheels. Its beyond the scope of this forum but much of the advice on women's bicycle fit is wrong.

I suppose it is the longer legs that make the kilt longer.

Leg length is not really the relevant bit for kilt length but femur length plus taste (or among Highland dancers, the ruling dominant conceptions).