Buying your first kilt is something quite unusual. Most likely, you will buy it online, and often, it will be custom-made. Most likely, this is the first time in your life that you have to take measures to have something sewn to really fit you. It is not difficult, however, and with a kilt, there is some give and take, in contrast to trousers.

The measurements

When ordering a kilt, you are asked for up to five measurements. They are:

Waist size
Hip size
Fell length
Kilt length
Your height

If you order a ready-made kilt, you only need to tell the vendor your waist size. The length will, with 95% probability, be 24 inches (61 cm). But, of course, you must find out whether this length will fit you. Now, let's take the measurements step by step.

They use yards, feet, and inches

To continental Europeans, it might seem odd, but it is the way it is. And you already know it from jeans. Americans and the British don't use the metric system, at least not for clothing.
Fortunately, a recalculation is not difficult.

The basic measure is the inch. 1 inch or 1" = 2.54 cm.
12 inches make a feet. 1 feet (1 ft in or 1') = 30.5 cm.
3 feet or 36 inches make a yard. 1 yard = 91.5 cm

1. WAIST SIZE

A traditional kilt is supposed to sit about the navel (your “natural” waist), i.e. higher than most trousers. However, a casual kilt can be worn lower. Take your measure where you want your kilt to sit and use a tailor's measuring tape like this:

Measuring tape.

Don’t rely on your trouser size!

The clothing industry, you are used to, is pleasing its customers by lying about facts. If I order a kilt in my Tommy Hilfiger or Hugo Boss jeans waist size, it shouldn't fit me at all or, if lucky, fit me badly. And Hilfiger and Boss are NOT alone.
In the kilt world an inch is an inch = 2.54 cm!

A kilt fastened with straps and buckles allows some flexibility, typically plus 2/minus 1 inch. Even if the flexibility on off-the-peg might be even bigger, like for example 34”-38” = 10 cm, it might not be enough. Therefore, MEASURE. MEASURE. Take a firm measurement.

2. HIP OR SEAT SIZE

It is where you are at the broadest. Take a loose measurement.

When buying a readymade kilt, you are never asked. Then the seat size is calculated from your waist size.

3. FELL LENGTH

Rule of thirds Often the correct fell length is 1/3 of total kilt length.

As mentioned earlier, the fell is the part of a kilt where the pleats are sewn down = From the top of the kilt till where you are at the broadest = where your hip or seat size is. In fact, you are only asked about it when ordering a made-to-measure kilt in Pakistan. If a kiltmaker is taking your measures, he'll measure for the fell-length too.

Rule of thirds
If your kilt is to sit at your natural waist and it shall reach to the mid of your knees, the fell length shall be about 1/3 of the kilt length.

It means that if a kilt is 24" long, the fell should be about 8". This is what it is on most of my kilts, sewn in Scotland. Pakistani kiltmakers have 6" as standard.

The fell measure being optional, this is what you get, unless you select another length between 3" and 10". Better a little too short than too long, to my opinion. If you want your kilt to sit low, for example at jeans waist, you might want to reduce it, or when very tall, increase it. 6", instead of 8", is what to go for.

4. KILT LENGTH

The kilt should end at the middle of your kneecap at the longest. By no means should it cover your knees – even if that's not uncommon. At the very shortest, it should be one inch above the knee. That means a give-and-take of about five cm, or two inches.

Should you get across the renowned book, So you*re going to wear the kilt by J. Charles Thompson, you’ll see that the author is advocating for short kilts; and that for special purposes they might even be quite short.

On page 54, he says,

J. Charles Thompson: So you're going to wear the kilt, 3rd revised edition 1989, Lang Syne Publishers LTD, Glasgow.

At the very longest, the kilt should reach only to the top of the kneecap… Don’t get the kilt too short, either. One of the books tells of a Highland gentleman who has his heavy kilt that he wears for shooting and hillwalking three inches above his knees. That way it does not touch the calf of his leg at all. That may be all very well if you are going to have a kilt, especially for outdoor sports, but for a general-purpose kilt an inch above the top of the knee cap is probably as short as you will want to go, even if you like a shortish kilt.

And on page 99,

Don’t get your kilt too long! The top of the kneecap is the absolute long limit, and up to an inch shorter is acceptable – better in my personal opinion.

A few examples:

A kilt is the most flexible garment. Below are six different kilts, ranging in length from 24" down to 20", meaning a difference of no less than 10 centimetres, and five of them can be worn according to rules.

Too long. The kilt covers the knees. If worn higher, it should be just OK. 24" 8 Yard PV ready-made kilt. MacKenzie tartan.

No longer than this. Mid-knee cap. Kilt worn at natural waist. 24" 5-yard wool kilt made-to-measure. Douglas Green Modern tartan.

Top of the knee cap. The kilt length I prefer. 22.5" 5-yard wool kilt made-to-measure. Campbell Ancient tartan.

About one inch above the knee. Better no shorter than this. 22.5" and sitting a little higher than on the kilt in the previous picture. 5-yard wool kilt made-to-measure. Holyrood tartan.

About two inches above the knee. Too short, if, like here, worn at natural waist. If lowered as much as it can, it shall still be acceptable. 21" 3-yard PV off-the-peg kilt. Buchanan Antique tartan.

The same kilt, worn lower and now just within limits.

A cheap 5-yard 20" made-to-measure PV kilt. Ordered to be this short from an American vendor. Stewart Black tartan. Here worn high, but the kilt is just a bit shorter than the length, which J. Charles Thompson finds still acceptable for a kilt, "especially for outdoor sports". I think that today most men should consider it too short.

The same kilt, worn as low as it can, makes the length acceptable. It works when the top is covered by a jacket or a sweater, but otherwise it is is too short (to be authentic) and looks more like a low-waist miniskirt.

Tokyo and Malaga, Spain.
Don't get your kilt TOO short. Especially in countries where school uniforms are common, a short kilt might be associated with schoolgirls' pleated skirts. Also, in Scottish environments where kilts are well known, better be within accepted tolerances.

Taking the measure

I have never been able to use the "kneeling method” often referred to.

My advice:
Use a camera or your smartphone, a towel and a belt. The phone or camera should be placed in a vertical position, meaning parallel to the wall and at knee height.

With the belt at navel – or where you should like to fasten your kilt – adjust the towel to the 24” standard length.
With you standing upright (back against the wall), take the picture using the self-timer. If not satisfied, adjust the towel's length until it looks right in the photo, then measure the length on the towel.
You might also use the smartphone on a selfie stick. Just never lean forward when taking the picture!
Another way is to have your wife or girlfriend assist you.

Be aware that a custom-made kilt cannot be returned, just because it does not fit you! A ready-made 24" long kilt can, even if it might have become more complicated to return a kilt from an EU country to Scotland or wherever it has come from.

Placed at navel, a 24” kilt goes to the middle of my knee cap. In my case, this length is the absolute maximum. A 21” kilt resting on my hips comes to about one inch above my kneecap, thereby still just acceptable. Fastened at the navel, it should rather look like a mini kilt, however. This is just to indicate that there is some flexibility, and it comes to mind that we are talking casual kilt-wearing, not national dress.

Rule-of-thirds
If you are of average build, you can expect a kilt to be about a third of your height.

Being 176 cm = 69", a third is 23". 23" is for me the perfect length = mid/upper knee cap. To be sure my kilts are at the top of my knees, I order them 22.5" or, if half-inch increments are not a possibility, 22". For me, better too short than too long.

5. YOUR HEIGHT

Not all vendors will ask. You are supposed to give your height in feet and inches. It is meant to indicate whether the length you ordered is correct. Varying by 2.54 cm, it is not very precise, but if you order your kilt 20” (51 cm) short and your height is 6’9” (206 cm), you might be asked whether you really want it to be a micro mini kilt.

1 foot = 30.5 cm.

My 176 cm equals 176/30.5 = 5' (152.5 cm) plus (176-152.5) = 23.5 cm/2.54 = 9" (22.9 cm), meaning I am 5'9" tall. The remaining 0.6 cm cannot be used for anything.

If you are 183 cm tall, it means 180/30.5 = 6', which is also 72". With the rules of thirds, your kilt should probably then be 24" long or 'standard length' and the fell 8".