Kilt is a knee-length, long skirt-like garment worn by men of Scottish descent as a traditional and national garment.
Kilt, unlike conventional skirts, is made of woven wool often made of repeated checked patterns known as tartan. If you fancy yourself a miniature version of Kilt, head to https://www.tartantweeds.co.uk/baby-kilt-outfits-1069-c.asp.
Brief History of Kilt
Scottish heritage is a topic of interest amongst many people across the globe these days. The most outstanding and eye-catching part of the Scottish heritage is its high-land traditional garments such as the Kilt.
The history of Kilt made of tartan as we see today was not much like these 1,000 years ago. Initially, in Gael, the traditional garment worn by both men and women was referred to as léine. This piece of clothing was a long length shirt resembling a single tunic worn by women and a long or knee-length shirt worn by men.
In the 16th century, léine underwent some changes as it was now worn as a garment that had a sleeve that fell all the way to the knees. These were either worn as pullovers or wrapped like a robe. The garment was not dyed, and often if dyed, was of saffron-like shade. To keep warm during the cold winter months, a shawl was worn. This cloak-like garment would later be termed plaid, derived from the Gaelic word for Blanket.
The Kilt had a long journey before it came to be the final product it is today. It first began as the belted plaid. These, too, were oversized, owning to the decreasing cost of wool and the concept that the more fabric in your garment, the wealthier you are.
Hence the belted plaid was at least 4-6 yards long and 50-60 inches wide. The female version of this belted plain had less fabric attached to it and was worn at ankles length, whereas the men wore it up to their knee with excess material wrapped around the waist with a belt.
The belted plain then metamorphosed into phillabeg by the 17th century. The term phillabeg was derived from Gaelic descent, meaning little wrap. Phillabeg is originally an untailored piece of clothing similar to belted plaid. It is 4 yards long but only 25 inches wide. Hence the article of clothing is divided into 2 parts that are worn separately.
However, the decline of the phillabeg came to be in the 1970s after the introduction of tailored Kilts. The pleats in the tartan kilt are stitched, unlike those in the phillabeg. The first instance noted of Kilt being worn was seen in the 1970s in the military. The amount of clothing used initially was 3.5 to 4 yards, which was later increased to 5 yards by the 19th century. However, modern myth argues that an authentic Kilt contains 8 yards of fabric, but this is far from true since the fabric size is dependent on the size of the wearer and the number of pleats.
