"NOWHERE does box pleated kilts!"

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Not sure I agree with you there Matt. The only box pleated kilt most Scots have seen, unknowingly probably, will have been worn by the Scottish regiments. So I do think civilian/military box pleat is a fair way to describe one from another.

But, Jock, the problem is that the four yard box pleated kilts were originally worn by the military. The earliest one that has been documented was c. 1796 and was a Gordon Highlanders regimental kilt containing just over 3 yards of cloth and box pleated. All regiments wore box pleated kilts, made from nominally four yards of cloth, until the Gordons switched over to knife pleats in 1854.

Of course civilians wore box pleated kilts during this same era, as well. The only difference between the two (at first) was that the military kilts were pleated to stripe, while the civilian kilts were pleated to no pattern at all. Fairly soon, though (after about 1810-1815 or so) civilian kilts began copying the military fashion and these were pleated to the stripe. So at that point there really was no difference between the civilian and military kilts at all. They were all about four yards and box pleated to the stripe.

In more recent history, some of the regiments retained the box pleated style, albeit using a greater amount of material. Because civilian kilts were now almost invariably knife pleated, the box pleating style became more associated with the military. But many regiments also wore knife pleated kilts, so box pleating was certainly not the only style used in the military.

I think when you say, "military box pleated kilt" most people understand you to mean the modern 8 yard box pleated kilt. So I don't really have a problem with this term.

I just think that since the four yard box pleated kilt has a strong military history, as well, it's not quite accurate to refer to this as a "civilian box pleated kilt" as opposed to the modern 8 yard "military knife pleated kilt."

I think, especially when we are talking about a civilian looking to purchase a kilt for civilian wear, simply referring to the kilts by their yardage -- "four yard box pleated kilt" or "eight yard knife pleated kilt" -- is easy and avoids any confusion.