Ribbons instead of pins, and such.

[Bugbear]

Basically the kilt pin has evolved from an actual pin used to hold the front apron in place, to a purely ornamental item. In the 1914 book "The Kilt", by Loudon MacQueen Douglas, he recommends a silver-mounted "claw foot" kilt pin for evening wear, and a large sliver "safety pin" (a blanket pin, actually) for day wear.

As far as placement is concerned, the lower you place the kilt pin, the less effective it is in preventing the kilt from billowing. I find that the kilt pin is most effective about a third of the way up from the hem of the kilt and, despite what many of the pundits have to say on the matter, on a really windy day I pin the front apron to the kilt. As long as you remember to unfasten the kilt pin before taking off your kilt, you are unlikely to sustain any damage.

I had to ponder that for a while because I experienced difficulties with the apron hanging incorrectly when I pinned it through both aprons way back when I first started wearing the kilt. Here's the deal, it has been drilled into my head by traditionalists and non-traditionalists that the pin goes down toward the bottom of the apron. That does cause problems with the apron pulling as the legs move; though I don't know if it really does any dammage.

For pinning through both aprons, you are placing the pin much higher where there is much less movement of the top apron in relation to the underapron. You also have a third strap a short distance above the pin holding down the apron above the bend of the hip. This lets the bottom of the front apron move freely. Where as, if it is pinned at the bottom of the aprons, the wind can get behind the top apron above the pin and cause billowing. With the higher placement, whether pinned through both aprons or just the top, the bottom corner of the apron would probably flap up a bit, but that's really not an issue. It's kind of like a sail compared to a flag held out on a boom...

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I had to ponder that for a while because I experienced difficulties with the apron hanging incorrectly when I pinned it through both aprons way back when I first started wearing the kilt. Here's the deal, it has been drilled into my head by traditionalists and non-traditionalists that the pin goes down toward the bottom of the apron. That does cause problems with the apron pulling as the legs move; though I don't know if it really does any dammage.

For pinning through both aprons, you are placing the pin much higher where there is much less movement of the top apron in relation to the underapron. You also have a third strap a short distance above the pin holding down the apron above the bend of the hip. This lets the bottom of the front apron move freely. Where as, if it is pinned at the bottom of the aprons, the wind can get behind the top apron above the pin and cause billowing. With the higher placement, whether pinned through both aprons or just the top, the bottom corner of the apron would probably flap up a bit, but that's really not an issue. It's kind of like a sail compared to a flag held out on a boom...

Yup... that's it in a cockleshell (to continue in a nautical theme...)

[thescot]

I rather wish the rosettes weren't purely military because I really do like the way they look, especially the simpler Black Watch or Irish versions. The black (at least I think they're black) on the saffron kilts look very stylish yet understated to me.

But then I do have a weakness for uniforms and such.