Goupilles De Kilt

It weights the outer front apron so the kilt hangs straight and does not lift in wind. That is the practical function. It is also the one piece of Highland dress where personal choice is genuinely open, since clan crests, swords, thistles, animals and plain designs are all correct and none carries a rule about who may wear it.

No, and this is the mistake almost every first time wearer makes. It pins through the outer apron only. Pinning through both layers locks the two aprons together, which stops the kilt moving as you sit and walk, distorts the drape and eventually tears the cloth. One layer only, always.

Yes. There is no convention restricting design by clan, rank or occasion. A clan crest pin is a common choice if you have a family sett, a sword or dirk pin is the traditional formal option, and plain Celtic knotwork suits anything. Pick on appearance and on matching your metal finish, not on supposed rules.

About four inches up from the bottom hem and two inches in from the outer edge of the front apron. That places it low enough to add useful weight and far enough in to sit clear of the fringe. Too high and it does nothing. Too close to the edge and it drags the apron out of line.

Match the metal finish, not the design. Chrome pin with a chrome belt buckle and a chrome sporran cantle. Antique brass with antique. Mixing finishes across the three is the detail that shows up in photographs. The design itself can be completely unrelated to your buckle and nobody will think twice.

Chrome plated and antique finished metal, with enamel detail on some crest designs. Polish with a soft dry cloth only. Abrasive metal polish strips plating and cannot be undone, which is why a cheap pin cleaned aggressively looks worse after a year than one that was simply wiped.

The wearer's right, on the outer apron where the fringed edge falls. That is where the loose edge sits once the kilt is fastened left over right, so it is the side that needs weighting. Pinning the left apron does nothing useful and looks wrong to anyone who wears a kilt.

Not if it goes through one layer only and is not moved constantly. Over years the same spot may show a small mark, which is normal on a well worn kilt. What does cause real damage is pinning through both aprons, since the kilt then pulls against itself every time you sit or walk.