Kilt Comfort

[Barry]

I now have several kilts as well as sarongs and such. The whole thing about skirt wearing was for the comfort. Now I have to say that in general the kilt satisfies my comfort criteria, but there is one area where I have issues. Its the material that some kilts are made of.

Most of my wool kilts, particularly the lighter weight ones, have a soft feel to them. The sort of softness you get with a scarf/muffler or a woolen blanket . On the other hand my 13oz and 16 oz kilts seem to have the texture of furry cardboard i.e. they have a hard feel to them and are quite scratchy. (or even Itchy & Scratchy! ) I'm even considering a slip to prevent my legs contacting the wool, or even going for an acrylic or poly/viscose kilt

Have I just picked some particulary difficult materials or is this something that others have come across? Has anyone any advice on dealing with scratchy tartan?

[cessna152towser]

I wear traditional 13oz and 16oz wool kilts and also modern polycotton and acrylic kilts. Of the three, the polycotton is the most comfortable against the skin, but you will get used to wool kilts if you wear them often, and I always feel more confident in a real wool kilt. In my opinion, wearing a slip under a kilt defeats the whole comfort and freedom ethic, and there's always the anxiety that it will flash into view, destroying the mystique of leaving people guessing whether anything's worn under. I made an under kilt out of the lower part of an old cotton tee shirt, cut off across the bottom of the armpits and then stitched onto a jockey waistband but I've very rarely worn it.

[McClef]

An underkilt - that's an interesting concept Alex!

[Fearnest]

I am told (but cannae confirm) that some Regiments sew a softer piece of cloth inside the waistband to drape down over the affected area... it should stay in place nicely and not show as a slip might - unless you need a REALLY long piece of cloth, of course!

The alternative might just be developing some well-placed callouses. I think I'd try the cloth with a basting stitch so you can easily rip it out if you don't like it.

[sirdaniel1975]

You should wear shirts that are long below the waist to help prevent some of that itchy feeling. This way you're not doing anything that could be thought of as questionable.

Link to 3rd party removed at the request of the party.

[thescot]

At 6" - 3", I have found that regular sized shirts have tails that are far too short. I buy long/tall tee shirts to solve the problems. One can also purchase dress shirts with extra long tails. In general, the cheaper the shirt, the shorter the shirt tail.

I don't wear skirts or slips. I find that the traditional manner works fine for me.

[Dreadbelly]

Wear some soft cotton flannel boxers if something is to rough.

Keep it simple.

[Riverkilt]

I have three of the apparently now defunct underkilt dealies. I almost always wear them with my wool kilts. They're black so don't worry much about them showing. If they did I wouldn't be embarrassed. As the bullfighter said, "EVERYTHING I wear is masculine."

When at work I choose to wear tartan cotton boxers from WalMart - just in case - and over the past 18 months of full time kilt wearing there have been three times where I've been glad I did.

Part of kilt comfort is whatever YOU wanna do to get comfy.

Ron

[The Wizard of BC]

Here is my solution to the problems of;

How to keep your kilt clean.
How to add an extra layer of insulation.
How to ease the pleats on light kilts to fall back into place when standing up.
How to prevent excess chaff from friction with wool.

[auld argonian]

So far it seems that no one has mentioned Body Glide, so I'll mention it.

But just about all of the bases have been covered. I just want to add my opinion that if it's more comfortable to wear shorts then wear shorts...no point getting your nether region sanded down just to "keep it real"...

Best

AA