History of the kilt

The history of the modern kilt stretches back to at least the end of the 16th century. The kilt first appeared as the belted plaid or great kilt, a full-length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder, or brought up over the head as a hood. The small kilt or walking kilt (similar to the modern or military kilt) did not develop until the late 17th or early 18th century, and is essentially the bottom half of the great kilt.

The noun kilt comes from the Scots verb kilt meaning 'to tuck up the clothes around the body'. The Scots word derives from the Old Norse kjalta (meaning 'lap', 'fold of a gathered skirt').^[1]