Reflections in a kilt

Dare you order a kilt, made to your measures, online?
I did. And, based on many experiences, I do. Just take care when you take your measures, and preferably double-check them, before you, by pressing “enter”, have ordered a kilt. And even if perhaps not 100% correct, there is always some give and take.
As a matter of fact, only some Scots, Americans, Australians, and Canadians living within a reasonable distance from a kiltmaker, do have the possibility of having their measures taken by a professional. And believe me, it isn’t that difficult, at all.
Follow the instructions, given by the vendor. You might also find advice here:

Kilt Society takes it from the positive angle, 5 good reasons why you should buy a kilt online. They make sense.

This year we have a hot summer with many days where temperatures have exceeded 25 C (77 F) and even reached 30 C (86 F). And it is up here in Northern Europe. In Italy, Spain and on Balcony it is much warmer, much longer, and each summer.

For enthusiastic kilt wearers such heat is no good. Unless you adjust to reality.

Not only are 8 yards of heavyweight 16 oz. fabric far from being comfortable, but people around you in shorts and skirts and t-shirts and in sandals or sport shoes shall either feel pity for you or find it absolutely ridiculous if seeing you in full Scottish costume. I did feel sorry for a guy whom I two years ago saw in Croatia and such dressed. If he had been on his way to a wedding or the like, it had been understandable, but nothing indicated, he was. He was a tourist and it was obvious that he did not feel at ease.

Purists might not have accepted how I was dressed, but this poor fellow might have been the only one representing them in town. I’m pretty convinced that the tens of thousands of other people being around town that afternoon have wondered less about my way of dressing.

I was wearing my Original Sport Kilt, the kilt coming from hot Utah in the US. It is made of an 8 oz. fabric, feeling, and looking, like flannel. In my case it has invisible, deep slide pockets, meaning no need for a sporran.    

Traditional kilt hose should have looked just as out of place as a heavy weight kilt – to my opinion. Therefore, no kilt hose, but short socks, or invisible socks, thin knee-high socks, or no socks.

This Summer, due to Corona spent in our own country, but with the warmth of Southern Europe, my preferred summer kilt is again my Sport Kilt.

For information: Buying a Sport Kilt is very much like buying a car. Paying just the basic price it can drive but not much else. If you buy a Sport Kilt at the basic price, you’ll have a very basic kilt. Mine has added features like sewn down pleats, belt loops, fringes, and, as most important and already mentioned, invisible slide pockets. The tartan is called Loch Ness.

It is about 13 months since I received my Tartanista “Value” kilt. It is lightweight, feels fine to wear, buckles and straps are of OK quality, sewing quality could have been better, but what can you expect for £25?
Well, the problem is the fabric. Acrylic fabrics tend to peel. But this one really, really peels. Never dream of wearing a sporran with this kilt. Just once and the fabric looks worn.
I started being overall satisfied with the kilt, but wearing it today and looking down at it, I must say that even for that little money I haven’t got enough value.

I have decided to find out. Tartanista in London is selling their “Value kilt” range at prices starting at £16.95. In order to have it that cheap, you must be pretty slim, however. A 30” waistline isn’t much for a grown up man. Two inches more and you are two pounds up. And from 34” through 42” the price is 22.95. That’s probably where most of customers are. For men of some substance, between 44” and 48” you have to pay one pound more and when ii cannot be larger, at 50”, the kilt shall cost you £24.95. But still, less than £25 for a kilt is cheap, whatever the size.

Yesterday I ordered it.

Tartanista I know already. I have bought a few sporrans from them. And they have been good and cheap. And I have bought a Tartanista forest green kilt many years ago. To the price it was fine. I haven’t used it very much, however. It was to the tight side. When buying other off-the peg kilts ordering them one size down has always given a better fit. This time I have followed Tartanista’s sizing instructions, so let’s see.

What made me interested in ordering a new kilt was the fact that the Tartanista Value kilts you can now have shorter and longer than the otherwise standardized 24”. Well, only in one tartan, Black Watch, but a start it is. Mine to come is 22” short.

I know already that this kilt shall involve a compromise. The pleats are – according to the pictures – not sewn down. And nowhere are they told to be. And therefore they shall not be, I’m sure. No doubt, the sewing down process is time consuming and cost ineffective and contradicting a starting price of just 16.95 British pounds.
I never had a kilt without sewn-down pleats. How obvious shall it be that it has not? Shall it make a difference on windy days? I’m going to find out.

How about accuracy of the pleating? Black Watch is probably not the most difficult of tartans when it comes to arrange the pleats to the sett. But again, let’s see.

And the fabric itself? Shall it feel nice? Look nice (enough)? In seven to ten days I’ll know. And I’m going to tell you.

Commando or not?

The never ending question, but in fact there is an indication in a YouGov research from 2016, according to which no less than 45 per cent of Scottish men voting for independence in the 2014 referendum stated that they ‘go commando’; whereas 32 per cent of those voting No will do.
Under the condition that the 45/55 result for independence also applies to men; it means that almost 38% of Scottish men should go commando under kilt – and nothing being said about frequency – at least sometimes.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/09/scottish-nationalists-more-likely-to-go-commando-under-kilts/

A quality kilt, sewn by a Scottish kiltmaker shall last you a lifetime; and it might go on to generations.

Something like this is what you often see when looking for a kilt.

No doubt, it is thought to be an argument justifying a high investment in a kilt. But should it really make sense to you as a customer?

Well, if you keep your size all life and the kilt shall not only fit next generation but also be interesting for a son or grandson to wear; it may. But how likely is it? Don’t forget the importance of the correct fitting when having your kilt made exactly to your measures. And the very thought of caring for your precious kilt might probably mean that you should only use it at few and very special occasions.

But is it a clever argument from the perspective of the kiltmaker, then? No. It is an extremely bad one, in fact; at least a most short-sighted one. Could you imagine a manufacturer of anything else being interesting in selling no more than one of his products to the same customer – and his heirs?
Like me, I’m rather convinced that you cannot.

And, somehow absurdly, even the cheapest kilt, worn only twice a year could serve you a lifetime and be handed over to next generation. It wouldn’t look as good as that fine and expensive kilt. It would never have. But that is quite another story.

Two years ago a 5 yard made to measure James Morrison kilt by Heritage of Scotland was to buy from £151. On most tartans there was an additional charge, but in the most common tartans £151 would do.

Today the James Morrison brand has disappeared but Heritage of Scotland are still offering five yard kilts made to measure. Now, however, prices start at £200. But you can hardly find a tartan without an additional charge. At least I have not been able to. They are £30 or far more extra.

Companies are free to take the price for their products they want to and to increase prices as much as they want to. But I find it rather questionable if a “from” price is pure theory.

During the last couple of years prices on kilts made in Scotland have increased rather dramatically. Perhaps the vendors are trying to compensate for the drop in the British pound since the country decided to leave the European Union? This, however, makes no sense to me, as it is to believe that the wool comes from Scotland, and that wages to Scottish kilt makers have not increased that much.

You might remember that a few years ago some Scottish kilt manufacturers demanded that only kilts made by skilled Scottish kiltmakers in Scotland and from Scottish wool should be allowed to be called kilts.

Prices on imported Pakistani made cheap kilts have not gone up, which should have been the consequence.

I don’t understand it.