Box vs Knife Pleats

[Bill Catherall]

From his website, it looks as though he still sells lovely kilt pins from Margaret Morrison and also some gorgeous diced hose from House of Cheviot

Matt's website is my website now. When he moved on from making kilts and selling kilt hose I bought his inventory and domain from him. New company name, but same web domain.

On the topic of box pleats, yes, there's a difference between the military box pleat and the wide box pleat. I find the 4-5 yard wide box pleat kilts quite comfortable. Light enough for hiking. Here's a photo of me at the summit of Mt St Helens in my Scott green weathered 5-yard box pleat kilt.

[figheadair]

I don't know if Bob Martin is still around or active with kilts

Alas, Bob, who was along-time friend and colleague, died in 2017.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries...ry?id=11478344

[OC Richard]

IIRC I was told years ago that Matt was taught by Bob Martin, who did box pleats based on his personal research.

Thanks, I'd heard of Bob Martin but I didn't recall that he was the one who revived and popularised that style.

Four yards for coolness and less weight, and 16oz cloth for durability, rather than more yards of lighter cloth.

That's my preference too, though my route is 6 yard knifepleated ordinary modern kilts in 16oz fabric.

[figheadair]

Thanks, I'd heard of Bob Martin but I didn't recall that he was the one who revived and popularised that style.

Richard,

I assume you therefore don't have a copy of his booklet which deals with the development of the styles and includes his study of various military kilts?

[ShaunMaxwell]

I was lucky enough to get in on a super deal that Matt offered several years ago, before D.C. Dalgliesh changed hands... A custom weave four-yard box pleat for only $500 total. What a deal! Here's my Maxwell hunting box pleat that was the results of Matt's labors (it's probably my favorite kilt... very light weight and comfortable. I really like the "hidden" left hip strap):



Cheers,

SM

[Jock Scot]

I just discovered that the US Tartan Museum is located in Franklin NC.

https://scottishtartansmuseum.org/

On their site, they offer 3 kilt types. One of which is a box pleat, which they state was the accepted standard for kilts "from the late 18th century till the middle of the 19th century", when today's knife pleats took over. Its not clear why they offer this single type of "historic" kilt and no others.

I was only surprised because I have not seen that posted here, and there are plenty of Kilt Historians active on our forum.

I was curious about this change in tradition. Also found it curious that box pleating is what Pakistani kilts use. They're obviously easier to sew and use less material, which is why I presumed Pakistanis use it. I did not know there was potentially a historic tie-in as well.

I seem to recall, when I joined this website too many years ago to count, there were several threads and posts on the subject. Perhaps you can still find them in this website’s archives?

[figheadair]

I just discovered that the US Tartan Museum is located in Franklin NC.

https://scottishtartansmuseum.org/

On their site, they offer 3 kilt types. One of which is a box pleat, which they state was the accepted standard for kilts "from the late 18th century till the middle of the 19th century", when today's knife pleats took over. Its not clear why they offer this single type of "historic" kilt and no others.

I was only surprised because I have not seen that posted here, and there are plenty of Kilt Historians active on our forum.

I was curious about this change in tradition. Also found it curious that box pleating is what Pakistani kilts use. They're obviously easier to sew and use less material, which is why I presumed Pakistanis use it. I did not know there was potentially a historic tie-in as well.

The original box pleated kilt, and what the military call a box pleat are different. The four-yard kilt had an even, broad box-pleat i.e. the depth of the pleat was the same on both sides. It was the standard pleating from c.1780-30/40. This one dates to c.1800 and is pleated randomly.



Military kilts of the time were box-pleated to stripe. This 92nd (Gordon) kilt dates to 1796.



Some time between 1830-40 the amount of material in civilian kilts increased to around 5 yards. In order to accommodate the extra material the pleats were narrowed and slightly overlapped. Bob Martin referred to this style as a box-knife pleat because it was a sort of interim or transitional style. It it this style that was retained by some military regiments such as the Black Watch, Cameron Highlanders, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders etc. This pleating was also to stripe.



It is said that the 92nd (Gordons) never adopted this transitional form and moved directly to the (modern) knife pleat around 1850-60. box-knife pleats continued to be the preferred form for both civilian and military kilts until c.1880 when the first knife-pleated civilian kilts appeared. These were still pleated to stripe. Pleating to sett seems to have come in around 1890-1900.