What is the best material and weight for a kilt?

Tartan for a traditional kilt is always woven in pure new wool. Some shops sell cut-price “kilts”, poorly-made from cotton or synthetic fibre mixes, but these are simply rubbish and if you wear one to anything but a party or game you will probably regret it (though we do sell a high quality hypoallergenic polyviscose tartan range, for anyone allergic to wool.) We offer the world’s widest choice of tartans, but only from mills that weave their tartans from pure wool to top quality standards.

Tartans are woven in a range of weights, which are suited to different uses. These fall into three broad categories: Light Weight (6-12 oz), Medium Weight (13-14 oz), and Heavy Weight (15-18 ounce). For a kilt, most people choose Medium weight, which gives the ideal balance of warmth, crease-retention, durability, swing, and ease of wear. If you live in a very hot climate, you might prefer a Light Weight fabric; this is cooler to wear, but is likely to need more regular pressing of the creasing at the rear, and may not swing quite so impressively when moving. Or you might choose a Heavy Weight fabric for even greater warmth and durability; these are especially popular amongst the military, and pipe bands.