- the
Kilt
- Worn
by the Scots as early as the MID-17th century
(and possibly before - no, it was NOT invented by
an Englishman named Rawlinson!), the
kilt is a sewn and pleated tartan garment wrapped
around the waist and secured by a belt or straps
and buckles. Kilts today are typically made from
7-8 yards of cloth - more for us 'bonus' types;
until the 1880's they were made of only four
yards of cloth, box-pleated or knife pleated with
very shallow pleats. Then some enterprising
kiltmaker discovered that if he put more cloth in
the kilt, he could charge more for it...and they
said Scots weren't very enterprising! Today's
kilts are almost all knife pleated to the right,
with very deep pleats. This lets the kilt 'hang'
better. Also, the heavier the weight of the
cloth, the better-wearing the kilt will be, and
much longer lasting than a lightweight kilt.
Don't ever buy a lightweight kilt! It will wear
out at the friction points (waist and where the
sporran chain rubs) in two years or less, and not
withstand the 'usual abuse' of Highland Games
wear!
A
NOTE ABOUT KILT WEARING, from Angus MacSnort of
Auchtinbuidle:
Many
times we see people whose kilts don't fit.
They're often too small, with the buckles
straining, and worn well below the 'natural'
waist with the poor individual's gut hanging
over. This results in the hem falling well below
the top of the kneecap. The resulting gaposis at
the waist also lets their belly hang out below
their waistcoat, exposing unsightly expanses of
shirting.
These
fashion victims also usually have their socks
pulled up to their knees, so the sartorial effect
is that of a deranged redneck in drag. Make sure
your kilt fits. If you gain weight, have it
adjusted. Likewise, if you lose weight, have the
buckles moved by your kiltmaker. You'll be glad
you did. And so will everybody else!
CUILLINN
CRAFT do not make kilts here in California. We will
be happy to have one made for you by one of
Scotland's premier Highland Dress manufacturers. For Custom
Tailoring of kilts, day and evening wear, and plaids,
go to CUSTOM TAILORING.
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HEADGEAR:
We now
feature Glengarry bonnets from D&M Gannaway
of Christchurch, New Zealand. A fine,
well-fitting band hat that keeps its shape and
looks smart. $59.95
in small, medium, or large sizes, black only,
with red toorie in stock. Other toorie colours
are available on special order. Picture to the
right
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| We also carry the
best made Balmoral bonnets available, in navy,
Rifle green, Lovat green, Lovat blue, and fawn,
with or without dicing, ribbons TIED correctly at
the back, in all sizes (measure your head in
centimeters, please! if you don't know your hat
size), $79.95 - OK,
I know it hurts, but these are the BEST bunnets
made! |
picture up soon!
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NEW! NEW! NEW!
'THE
KILTER' - a unique kilt carrier that is rugged and
practical. CUILLINN CRAFT is the Left Coast agent for THE
KILTER CO. of Speyside, Scotland. This kilt carrier is
designed to hold your kilt, jacket, hose, sporran, shoes,
bonnet, etc. without rolling or
wrinkling. Large compartment for
kilt with locking coat hanger, special kilt hanger; two
side compartments for shoes, sporran, hose, and so on;
linen bag for soiled shirts; full hanging hook and brass
locks. You can order these from us and we will have them
shipped direct to you by air from Scotland - usual
delivery time is two weeks. Or we may have one in stock
which we can ship direct. Call or email; 510-569-1689 or pipey@cuillinn.com
. This is really a great piece of luggage - light,
secure, and practical.
Made
of heavy-duty polyester with tan trim; leather accents.
Brass padlocks and hanger; SHOULDER STRAP; name tag; all
you need is that ticket to Prestwick and you're off....
$169.95
plus shipping 
I've
looked at a lot of different kilt luggage over the years
- this is the best one I've found - Iain
- KILT
HOSE
click on each thumbnail for a
full view!
   
-
- above,
left to right: 'Pibroch' interlace pattern hose;
NEW 'Braemar'
checkered top pattern - perfect for police or
sheriff's bands; FEARG hose, a distinctive Celtic
pattern; full formal
castellated hose in red/white 'caddis' dice.
- WE HAVE A KNITTER!
- After two years of
searching we have found a new knitter, Margaret
Myles. She is currently working on stock for the
shop, starting with the Fearg pattern. In the
next few months we will be adding the Pibroch,
Braemar, and other patterns to our inventory. The
price for all solid colour patterns is now
$109.95. Special orders will take approximately
four weeks, and we will match any colour sample
you provide ($10 add'l charge)! EMAIL
for a colour chart
of our stock shades - white, lovat green, lovat
blue, charcoal, burgundy, oatmeal, ancient green,
and fawn.
-
- More from
the MacSnort about footwear:
-
- Day Wear
Hose (stockings) for casual or formal day wear
may be of any colour, although most are of light
shades, including lovat green and blue, tan, or
brown. Today hose of off-white or ecru are
preferred, usually with traditional or celtic
patterns, however, for more formal day dress, the
hose should match the colour of the jacket. White
hose have been popular because they were given
away with kilt packages for hire. White hose are
NOT considered correct for highland dress except
by civilain pipe bands, and even then only under
duress. The hose should come to three inches
below the BOTTOM of the kneecap, folded down at
the top.
-
- 'Pibroch' pattern
(above #1) or 'Fearg' pattern (#3) are two of the
really outstanding hand knit patterns available
from our hand knitter for $119.95
per pair. We're currently working on getting
other patterns back in stock; these are hand
knit, and they do take time to get. 'Tulloch'
pattern, a 'squared' version of the 'Fearg'
interlace, is now available.
-
- Our newest pattern
is BRAEMAR(#2) - a really distinctive design
combining a heavy cable leg with a diced
turnover, available in any colour combination.
'Braemar' pattern checkered top hose are $119.95.
Popular combinations are red dice/white, black
dice/white, white dice/lovat, and burgundy
dice/fawn. Colour matching is available at $15
additional charge for this service.
- Formal
Hose for evening-wear is patterned, either in
red/white dice, tartan, or check patterns of
red/green, red/black, green/white, or other
combinations. As stated above, white hose are NOT
correct for formal wear. Formal
hose can have either the normal turnover or can
be castellated or vandyked with a wrap or tie
garter as shown far right above - very
traditional and very much in the spirit of the
Highland Gentleman.
-
- A lot
of you men are wearing white hose with Prince
Charlies for evening wear. This is an adopted
fashion because they're cheap, and kilt hire
companies put in plain white hose with rental
kilt outfits. Go with the Big Boys - go for diced
or tartan hose with evening wear - you'll be glad
you did!
- Machine made Diced
hose (#4
shown above) are $229.95
- we can match colours for you if you provide
thread samples. Tartan
hose are $249.95.
I realise that these are REALLY expensive, and
you won't want to wear them all the time, but
they are much preferred for formal dress than the
'kilt hire look' of white hose. The castellated
hose also require special wrap-around garters,
shown below - 'Gordons' pattern, copied from an
1895 original in our collection, or the 'Atholl'
garter with rosette, taken from a
nineteenth-century portrait - these are the same
garters worn by Atholl Highlanders pipers today;
and the 'Cascade' garter, our own original
striking design. Typical colour combinations are
red/white, green/white/ blue/white/ blue/green,
or the infamous 'Christmas Hose' - red/green. We
will need measurements - foot length, height from
floor to top of hose, and girth at calf and ankle
-
-
Here's a pair
of our new machine-made diced castellated
hose made to match the colours of
Culloden tartan. Guaranteed to make the
blue hairs faint at fifty paces! Shown
with our Atholl Highlanders garters,
these run $219.95; garters are $69.95,
shown below.
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Here's Roger
Huth, President of the Scottish Piping
Society of London, wearing his new
castellated hose with Evening Dress. Note
the 'buckle brogues,' which are the
correct footwear . Nice Sherrifmuir
jacket, Roger!
- Photographed
at the RAF Museum
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- Contact us at
pipey@netwiz.net
or call 510-569-1689 for ordering details.
-
above:
Gaelic Knot in green; green
Guards pattern garter flashes;
Rosette in green; red Guards
pattern flashes; Rosette in
black; also available in a FEW
tartans
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To hold
your spiffy socks up - particularly the
castellated ones - we now offer
traditional handmade wraparound or
wrap-and-tie garters. Shown at
left are: GORDON
HIGHLANDERS pattern
- $44.95; or ATHOLL
HIGHLANDERS pattern
at $69.95, are wraparound style. (CASCADE
patter garters are discontinued at this
time) We also have the 18th-century style
self-tie garters for $29.95 (2-yd) and
$39.95 (3 -yd.), which we supply WITH
instructions. Our garters are available
in bright red, bottle green, black, royal
blue, and deep crimson (wine).
- In
stock colours from the
above are: wine, red,
bottle green, royal blue,
and black. Other colours
are available with a
minimum order.
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- We
also carry commercially made SCOTS
GUARDS pattern
garters in red or green, $24.95.
We make Rosettes
(worn
by the Scots Guards, RCAF and
several other bands)
$44.95/pair, Gaelic Knots
(what the Black Watch wear on
their kilt aprons) - $39.95/pair,
or cockades ($10 and up) to suit
your re-enactment needs.
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NEW NEW NEW!
- Ghillie
brogues from Avriel Intl,
Canada's highland shoemakers:
available
in black or dark brown with
'marching' (composite) soles,
these shoes are comfortable
for wear at games all day long.
- $139.95
also
available with leather sole and
heel, or heavy duty marching sole
and heel
$159.95
Bar and
Buckle Brogues:
in black
patent leather with leather sole and
rubber heel
with
plain buckle
- $159.95
-
- Please
provide foot tracing for
accurate fit of buckle
brogues!
-
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- custom tailoring
- We now
represent two of Scotlands finest tailors and
Highland Dress Outfitters, and can provide many
hard-to find items, such as Military Mess
Jackets, Regulation Doublets, tweed Daywear
jackets, full military bandwear, hand-fringed
plaids, and, of course, kilts. Click on the link
above for more pictures and details.
-
- Contact us at pipey@netwiz.net
for pricing and delivery.
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