YOU TOO MAY WEAR THE KILT!

Orders for bespoke made Highland dress outfits are on the increase, not just to Scots and Scottish expats but to many who would claim Scottish descent

Around the world, grown men dress up in skirts and frills on a regular basis, to revel in their links with the Old Country.

That these enthusiasts hail from a place noted for a particularly hardy strain of males, and vehemently deny that they wear ‘skirts’ makes the phenomena of global Scottish-ness all the more interesting.

Highland Games, ceilidhs, Burns Night, Scottish literary occasions and Scotch whisky tastings are but some of the excuses for those claiming Scottish origins to get together and don Highland dress in places as far flung as Hawkes Bay, New Zealand to South Dakota, USA.

Top kilt maker, Kinloch Anderson, maintains that there are some 30million people of Scottish descent world wide, 11 million of those in the US, nearly 5m in Canada and a further 6m in Australia and New Zealand. And as more and more of them discover their roots and the splendid dress of their forefathers, so the demand for kilts keeps growing.

The Scottish Highland dress industry is the first to acknowledge that it benefits considerably from this international indulgence in all things Scottish. There’s a plethora of sites online offering the ‘authentic’ articles. But beware - even on Princes Street in Edinburgh, Scottish clothes on sale are as likely to hail from China and Thailand as from indigenous makers.

So, for those keen to invest in a Scottish ensemble that has been made in Scotland on the traditional lines, we feature some of the leading exponents here.

Prices for such quality handmade kilts range from around £400 to £750, all the accessories extra. See the following page for information on tartan.

At top, the Mackintosh tartan. Left, an evening Highland set from Kinloch Anderson, showing a Montrose doublet in black barathea , the kilt in a Macpherson tartan. Below, the shoulder shawl, known as a fly plaid, with kilt, in the MacDuff red ancient.

Scotland’s outpost in Savile Row is Dege & Skinner.  This pukka tailoring house is used as the London base of Kinloch Anderson of Edinburgh. Here, Scots, and others, may be measured for a bespoke kilt and the whole Highland Dress caboodle by a representative who comes from Kinloch Anderson's Edinburgh headquarters, and who will advise on all the correct wear and accessories that go into making one of the most distinctive and attractive male costumes in the world.

As kilt makers to the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles, the company tops the kilt-making league. Now managed by the fifth and sixth generations of the founding family, it makes all sorts of Scottish clothing and accessories, as well as the bespoke kilts favoured by the Royal family when at Balmoral, and exports to Scottish expats all over the world.

"We're particularly busy now," said Nathan Jedreg, bespoke manager in Edinburgh. "The orders come in at this time of year for Highland Dress outfits for weddings and also for students returning home. When they reach their 21st birthday, they may be brought in by their grannies for a new kilt!"

The rich swirl of the kilt that goes with the skirl of the pipes owes its movement to a quite extraordinary amount of tartan material that goes into its making. Compare the 4-5yards that goes into a man's suit with the 8 yards required for a Kinloch Anderson kilt. The material is painstakingly hand folded and stitched to give the straight pleated section, with the flat wrap-over on the front and underneath. Not surprisingly, as the wearer moves, so do the pleats.

It's a far cry from the length of coarse plaid that a Highlander would wind around his waist and toss over his shoulder as rough and ready attire in the old days. Only in the late 1700s did a more sophisticated styling start to emerge.

Today, there are knife and box pleated versions, the box requiring even more expertise than the knife. All Kinloch Anderson's kilts have pleats that are 3 to 4 inches deep, and range from 23 to 43 pleats in all, depending upon the size of the tartan pattern - the sett, as it is known. And in length, they say the kilt should end just on the top of the knee cap, showing a short expanse of leg above the hose cuffs.

Unlike a bespoke suit, that may be ripped apart and altered, there's no altering a kilt. Once the measurements are established, the pleats stitched at the top and the length ending on the selvedge edge of the material, it cannot be altered - though because of the buckled leather fastenings, there is some room for adjustment in the girth.www.kinlochanderson.com

This is why another bespoke kilt maker, Hector Russell of Edinburgh, provides such detailed instructions for measurements on its online site. Height, waist, seat and length measurement guides are provided, with diagrams. No returns are accepted, unless faulty.

"There's a lot of interest in traditional Highland dress from students ," Sean Proverbs of Hector Russell reports. "And the French market has been amazing, in addition to the North American and Australian markets. We've had French people coming into our stores in Edinburgh wearing beautiful Highland outfits that they have had made in Paris!"

Above, a formal Highland outfit, favoured for weddings, by Hector Russell. Right, one of their clan scrolls that are very popular, which detail name, clan crest, tartan and potted history of the clan.

In addition to kilts and jackets, Hector Russell provides all the other necessary accoutrements for a Highland Dress occasion, including sporrans, sgian dhubs and kilt pins. The kilts may take 6 to 8 weeks for delivery and are available through the company's world-wide service. www.hector-russell.com

Kilt maker with impeccable Savile Row connection is Geoffrey Nicholsby of Geoffrey (Tailor) of Edinburgh.

"I must be the only kiltmaker with a diploma from the Tailor & Cutter Academy," he commented. He trained at the Academy under the revered Archie Whife, who some of the older stalwarts in the Row will remember. That was for suit making but he returned to Scotland to start his own kilt making business.

It also has its own weaving mill in the heart of Edinburgh, providing the quality tartans for their kilts, including the traditional 16/17oz worsted, known as Auld Reekie, that they recommend as the best choice.

"This may seem heavy but it means the kilt hangs well and keeps its shape better," explained Geoffrey. Their bespoke kilts are hand sewn by craftsmen and women, and sewn to the sett of the tartan, or to a dominant stripe in the tartan. This means the back of the kilt has a stripe down each pleat.

The kilts here are in new tartans exclusive to Geoffrey (Tailor) - some are added to the official list each year. The one above is the 21st Century tartan, on the right, the Scottish Rugby Union tartan.

Having their own mill means they can offer an in-house design service for personal tartans - see the Tartans page for details.

They have an appointment service in London each month, and take part in many events in the USA. www.geoffreykilt.co.uk