style

Traditional and contemporary kilts sewn to order

Paul Henry Kilts

Which Style

Paul Henry makes kilts in a time honoured way, whether traditional or contemporary, whether hand sewn or sewn by machine.

Both styles are designed with a high rise, and are fully tailored. The woollen kilts have a built in stabiliser, hair canvas and internal lining, and two leather straps and buckles

Traditional kilts have anything between 18 to 32 pleats, this is dependant on many factors, the size of the wearer, but often more importantly the size of the “sett”- the pattern.

Pleats can be made to the sett, so that from a distance the back of the kilt looks the same as the front, or it can be pleated to the “stripe”where a dominant stripe features on each pleat, this is the norm for military kilts, but the choice is yours. Depending on which stripe is chosen many different effects are possible, and the overall look of the kilt will change considerably, so usually a test strip is pleated to show the variations possible before making a final decision.

These kilts are normally handsewn although a little bit of machine sewing along the waistband is used for strength.

A traditional kiltnormally contain about 8 yards of fabric, but it is possible to create an acceptable traditional kilt with as little as 5 yards, Harris tweed kilts are usually about 5-6 yards simply because of the bulk of the fabric.

Contemporary kilts do not usually have more than about 20 pleats, and 12 to 18 is coMarton Millson. These kilts are normally machine sewn because of the generally heavier cottons and denim used. Pleat width is generally wider than on a traditional kilt, and typically these kilts will contain between 5 - 6 yards of fabric. Typical fabrics are denim, camouflage, heavy cotton , indeed almost everything except woollen tartan, but even that might be possible!

With either style of kilts, there are many options to make it a unique and personal garment, such things as the colour of leather, brass or nickel buckles, the type of lining - I like to use interesting fabrics which are always carefully selected with the client in mind,and many adaptations or personal touches are possible,.