Homespun Wool Blend Irish Ancient Kilt

View our selection of Stock Homespun Tartans

What is an Ancient Kilt?

These are the same style kilts worn in the movie Braveheart! Our Ancient Kilts are perfect for Renaissance festivals, weddings, reenactment events, or a distinctive look at your next Highland games. Depending on who you talk to, they may be historically accurate or not, but our Ancient Kilt is much cooler and more practical than a Great Kilt for hot weather wear. We recommend them to anyone looking for the Renaissance Highland look.

How is it different?

The Ancient Kilt is basically a Phillabeg with an extra 2-3 yards of tartan attached. This extra tartan serves as a sash or fly plaid, worn over your shoulder once the kilt is pleated. An Ancient Kilt is different from a Great Kilt because it is made from a longer piece of single-width fabric (25-30 inches wide). This means you don’t have the bulk of fabric above the belt that you do with a great kilt. (Great kilts are made from double-width fabric, 54-60 inches wide).

Delivery Time

Our Homespun Ancient Kilts are made-to-order from fabric that is supposed to be in stock. This makes it essentially a stock item, and we can usually get them made and shipped in a day or two. We try hard to keep homespun in stock. However, if the tartan you’ve selected is temporarily out of stock, you may need to wait up to 8 weeks for delivery.

About Homespun Tartan

This kilt is made-to-order in the USA from our Homespun wool blend tartan. Our Homespun tartan is made from a 55/45 blend of polyester and wool. It is woven by hand on old-world looms, and looks very authentic to what would have been woven historically. The yarn is worsted, but not spun as tightly as modern machine-made tartan. The cloth is also not as tightly woven. Homespun tartan will pleat by hand easily, but will not develop a sharp edge. Small snags, pulls, holes and other assorted blemishes are common. Because it is hand woven, these flaws are a natural part of it’s character. Homespun is approximately a 10/11 oz. fabric, but feels thicker due to it’s looser weave.

View our selection of Stock Homespun Tartans

Cheater Pleats™

Pleating instructions are included with each kilt. Traditionally these kilts are pleated each time you wear them. We ask for size information to be sure that your kilt will fit you correctly, but we do not pleat the kilt for you unless you also select Cheater Pleats™ as an additional option.

Note — Modern kilts are generally pleated so that the front apron of the kilt closes from left to right. For years this is how we’ve Cheater Pleated™ our Ancient Kilts. However, many customers brought it to our attention that this makes it difficult to wear the plaid over the left shoulder, which is also customary.
So, we’ve decided to make all Ancient Kilts the other way — front apron closing from right to left. This makes the aprons “backwards” compared to a modern kilt, but it allows the plaid to flow up and over the left shoulder. (This is the way Mel wears it in the Braveheart movie.)
Incidentally, plaid over left shoulder is not a hard and fast rule. It most likely originated as a practical way to keep the plaid off your sword arm. If you are left-handed, you will probably want to wear the plaid over your right shoulder. Just let us know — we can Cheater Pleat™ your kilt either way you want!

Please Note — If you add Cheater Pleats— to your kilt, it becomes a custom-made item. Custom-order terms and conditions apply. Please click to view important information about custom-order items.

Sizing

• 6 yard Ancient Kilt fits up to about a 38 inch waist.
• 8 yard Ancient Kilt fits up to about a 48 inch waist.
• 10 yard Ancient Kilt fits up to about about a 54 inch waist.
• Larger kilts are available. Please contact us.

Depending on waist size, pleats will vary between one and two inches wide (pleats will get wider as waist size increases). If your waist size is close to one of the limits above, consider the next size larger if you want deeper pleats or pleats closer together.

How to measure for your Ancient Kilt

1. Have someone help you. If you bend even a little while trying to do it yourself, the measurements will change.
2. Kilt Waist: Measure the waist size at your actual waist, where you usually wear your pants.
3. Kilt Length: Measure the length from your waist to about the middle of the knee.