Kilt Facts

The modern kilt (small kilt) was said to have been in use in various army barracks in the late 17 th century as army ‘undress’ wear i.e. informal, off-duty clothing. It was produced by cutting the cumbersome upper part of the old philamhor (the great kilt) and sewing in the pleats in the remaining ‘skirt’ portion. The first documented evidence of its use-as against oral evidence-was attributed to English industrialist Thomas Rawlinson who ran a foundry at Lochaber and who saw the benefits that a detachable garment would make, for the comfort and safety of his workers. This gave rise to the mistaken claim that ‘it was an Englishman who invented the Scottish kilt.

• Each kilt is made of about eight yards of material.
• An average worsted wool kilt weighs around 4.5 to 5 pounds.
• Each handmade kilt takes a total of about 15 hours solid work to complete.
• There are more than 4000 tartans.
• The most popular tartans are the Stewart tartans, Black Watch, Dress Gordon and the Flower of Scotland.
• The oldest tartan is the Falkirk tartan, which dates to around AD260 and was discovered in a jar of coins near Falkirk.
• The first, and only tartan, to date, on the Moon was the Macbean, worn by Alan Bean on Apollo 12 in November, 1969