Kilt Lengths in Gathering Photos

[Paul]

I am not trying to cause trouble here, but looking at the various photos of the Gathering posted, most of the kilts seem to be from mid-knee to the bottom of the knee. I had been lead to believe that this would be on the long side. Comments?

Geoff Withnell

I dont sit the kilt above my whole knee... at The Gathering it stayed on my mid-knee is usual. It's just however you prefer it - although obviously if your kilts sitting out a bit from your legs at the front and people are looking down at it then it would appear your knee is covered.
best example of how I like to wear it:



To be honest I think most Scots who probably own one kilt for formal occasions would think it would look "stupid" to show your knee in a kilt.
From what I remember from my prom and a couple of weddings I've been to what you're saying is true. I've seen a guy wearing his kilt far below his knee and a plaid on "the wrong shoulder", kilt pin on the wrong side and it just didnt look right to me. However - he probably thinks "it's ok... it'll do" or had simply looked at a reversed or mirror-taken picture to guide him!

[English Bloke]

...

I'm with Paul here. His Campbell ancient in the photo above is bang on for kilt length... I my humble English opinion I've often seen pictures on here and thought the Kilt was a little high... err but only for me I might add.

[Paul]

I'm with Paul here. His Campbell ancient in the photo above is bang on for kilt length... I my humble English opinion I've often seen pictures on here and thought the Kilt was a little high... err but only for me I might add.

Cheers!

[Riverkilt]

Jay pegged it - as oft pointed out on this forum its the camera angle.

Take the same shot standing and another shot squating about waist level and the kilt will appear different lengths in each photo.

Secret is to ask the photographer to squat....

And yes, there can be slip and sag too...especially an olde guy with a beer belly. One more argument for hidden suspenders with a kilt.

Ron

[Dixiecat]

I had a look at the dress code for highland dancers of the SOBHD (Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing). The dress code does not get updated very often (this year was the first time in 10yrs or so) and, I imagine, could be used as a reference point for 'preserved' kilt lengths.

The guideline for both male and female Premier dancers state:

Kilt: Any clan or district tartan is acceptable. The length of the kilt is to the top of the knee.

No height for hose is stated, but the general fashion is to the bottom of the knee.

[Santa Wally]

I've seen a guy wearing ... a plaid on "the wrong shoulder" However - he probably thinks "it's ok... it'll do" or had simply looked at a reversed or mirror-taken picture to guide him!

Yes, that's what happened to me. My first photo with a plaid, taken on National Tartan Day '09, after having a kilt for only a month, my plaid was on the wrong shoulder. I put it on while looking in the mirror and it looked right according to the photos I'd seen. DUH, the mirror isn't the way it will look to others or in the photo. That's why in my avatar photo, the plaid is on the wrong shoulder. I'll post a new avatar after I receive my Clan Claus (Claus of the North Pole) kilt.

[Strings]

Honestly, I base my prefered length on the time of year. My first traditional kilt is a Macleod the comes to bottom of/just below the knee, and is what I like mid winter. Reason? Since I'm a smoker, and end up banished to the outdoors to indulge, the extra length allows me to kneel and "seal off" my legs from the wind...

[Larry124]

Honestly, I base my prefered length on the time of year. My first traditional kilt is a Macleod the comes to bottom of/just below the knee, and is what I like mid winter. Reason? Since I'm a smoker, and end up banished to the outdoors to indulge, the extra length allows me to kneel and "seal off" my legs from the wind...

My aunt lives in Wisconsin, and even though she was a Woman USMC in WWII, I think that she would agree with you about mid-winter Wisconsin. You do what you have to do.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Someone in a thread here recently posted pictures of a pipe band on parade (either at the Gathering or a recent Highland Games in Scotland, I cannot recall). But I do recall noting at the time that I could not see a knee in the whole band. Every one of them had kilts that reached to the top of their kilt hose or lower, so there was not a knee in sight.

Just looking at photographs of people kilted, across the board, I have noticed a trend that in Scotland it seems fashionable to wear the kilt a bit longer than what is traditionally seen as acceptable.

What I was taught, and what most here on this side of the pond accept as traditional, is that the kilt should be somewhere between the middle of the knee at the longest, and one inch above the top of the knee at the shortest.

What I see being worn by many in Scotland -- even some catalog pictures -- are kilts worn from the middle of the knee to the bottom of the knee.

Here in America, and among older Scots I know, that would still be considered too long. Perhaps this is a case of fashion changing in Scotland while we here in the States still adhere to the more traditional style? (Please note I have not undertaken a serious study of this, it is just something I've noticed over the past few years).

[Jack Daw]

We need anti-skid kilts.