How to wear a kilt

Kilts for Hire stock a large and comprehensive range of kilts for you to hire. But as well as hiring out kilts, we would love to show those of you who are new to this type of Scottish attire, the answer to a question we get asked all the time – “can you show me how to wear a kilt properly?”

Putting on your socks , flashes & Sgian Dubh:

Firstly, when putting on your socks, ensure the ribs of the socks are straight , check the socks are sitting at the same height. Socks should be sitting just below the knee , about 3-4 inches below the kilt. The flashes go under the fold of your socks , sitting on the side of outer calf muscle. Having the sock fold just over the elastic of the flashes.

How to wear a sgian dubh

The Sgian Dubh goes inside your sock and is placed on the outer calf of your leg , this is commonly worn on the right leg but if you’re naturally left handed it would go on the left leg. The Sgian Dubh should be tucked in the sock about half way.

Lacing your Ghillie Brogues:

The best way to tie the laces is to cross the laces over and twist round 3 times. Hold the laces firmly at the ankle & wrap the laces round the back and round to the front tying in a bow to finish. If your laces are slipping you can try tying them slightly lower to prevent laces from falling.

How to tie the ghillie brogue

Putting on your shirt:

Moving onto the shirt , ensure your shirt is ironed to prevent any creasing and also put your cufflinks on when putting the shirt on.

How to wear a kilt pin:

So how do you wear a kilt pin? The kilt pin goes on the front apron of the kilt, just in the bottom left hand corner about 2 inches in from the fringe and sitting 2 inches above the bottom of the kilt. The kilt pin only goes through the front apron. The kilt pin should not pin both the aprons together; this will result in the kilt not sitting properly. The purpose of a kilt pin is to weigh down the front apron of your kilt to prevent it from being blown up in the wind. Kilt pins are made from metal for this reason.

Positioning of the kilt pin

Putting a kilt on properly:

To put the kilt on , locate your inside apron (apron without the fringe), holding the inner apron against your natural waist, wrap the kilt round the back of waist and buckle the inside buckle. Continue to wrap the front apron of the kilt round the front of your waist and buckle your kilt closed. The kilt should sit high and snug on your natural waist , you can use your belly button as a guide on roughly on where the kilt should sit, the kilt rests gently on your hip bone. check the kilt is centred and use the centre line (if there is one) to guide you, pleats should sit at the back of the kilt with the buckles on your sides. When looking in the mirror the kilt should be straight and balanced holding an A shape, with the kilt bottom edge sitting in the middle of the knee.

Putting on your sporran and chain straps:

Starting off , you should clip the chain straps to the back of the sporran . Gently hold the sporran below the kilt waist and loop the chain straps through the belt loops and fasten in the back. This may be easier with a helping hand to hold the sporran while fastening. The sporran should be centred with the kilt and resting about 4/5 inches below the top of the kilt.

Sporran positioning

Putting on your belt and buckle:

The belt and buckle sit on top of the change straps at the back of the kilt, ensuring the belt buckle is fastened to the centre and sits 1/2 inches above the sporran.

Putting on your waistcoat and jacket:

Start by putting on the waistcoat and buttoning it , you can adjust the waist coat at the back. Followed up by putting on your jacket this is commonly left unbuttoned, ensuring the jacket is sitting straight and comfortably with everything including the buttons , tie , sporran , belt buckle & kilt and are sitting in a straight line. If you’re wearing a shoulder plaid you will want to fasten it with a plaid brooch only to the left jacket lapel. Complete the outfit with your bow , ruche or standard tie.

Make sure waistcoat , sporran and tie all lined up, kilt is centred, socks strait and try to smile!

And there you go , you’ve successfully put on your kilt outfit like a professional. Well done!

We still recommend you do a trial run the night before or a few days before the event for some practice getting everything on.

How to wear your kilt casually:

When we look at how to wear a kilt casually, you may have seen people wearing kilts in an informal manner , Kilts can be seen in public settings , such as football games. When worn casually, kilts typically shouldn’t be worn with all the accessories for more leisure wear. It’s important to know how to wear a kilt in certain scenarios. Kilts can be styled with chunky boots or trainers and worn with jumpers , t-shirts , football shirts, Jacobite shirts & more.

Note always best to wear a sporran!

For any additional information or guidance on how to wear a kilt or even how to wear a kilt casually, or for information on tartans , brochures or our buy collections please visit : www.kiltmakers.com or to view our hire range visit: www.kiltsforhire.com, You can also contact us via phone at 0141 889 4879 or email us at shop@kiltmakers.com.