Our Success Might Well Be Hampered Due Kilt Prices

[ziggy_encaoua]

Having seen a few kilt outlets

http://www.defiant-angel.com/shop_skirts.htm

I think £150 – £250 for what is essentially a skirt is a bit over the top

I wear custom made kaftans which cost on average £80

These high cost for kilts I reckon is in fact hindering the cause of Men’s Fashion Freedom & I’m surprise considering the cost being so high that there isn’t a market for somebody setting up an online store in second hand kilts?

[Departed Member]

There's an awful lot of work and material goes into a conventional Kilt! And the market is somewhat 'restricted', hence the price per item tends to be on the high side. I do sometimes wonder, though, whether prices are kept artificially high to 'dissuade' folk from buying (to maintain exclusivity?). There was always a significant difference in price for those sold on Princes Street (Edinburgh) to those elsewhere. Having said that, there used to be a small shop (on Waverley Steps - off Princes Street) that used to stock ex-military Kilts at 'sensible' prices. Other than that, good old eBay seems the best bet, these days..........

[HockeySkirt]

Stillwater are doing a great job at getting the price down. They have a legendary costumer service, and amazing turn around, and their range now starts with the Thrifty Kilt at around $30.

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Stillw ... %E2%84%A2/

http://www.stillwaterkilts.com/

Alan H, an amateur kilt maker (who has written some nice instructions on making your own kilt), wrote a good post at Xmarks regarding the 'Outrageous cost of kilts'.

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/outr ... ml?t=28025

Ed

[cessna152towser]

There are plenty of very cheap acrylic kilts available on e-bay.
Here's one I bought recently:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=010
This seller has some currently listed on e-bay in a variety of tartans.

This is me wearing it soon after it arrived.

[Peter v]

I do also agree, but quality items are more expensive than the run of the mill confection articles ( sometimes junk)
It may also be, that prices are kept artificially high. But If we can say, that the "real" kilts are still being made to the high quality standard, and ( mostly) in Scotland or other quality secure work places, then let's keep that so. I would dread the idea of having the market flooded by cheap kopys of the real tghing ( not talking about the light look alike kilt style skirts. As I think that to be named "Kilt" to me it should be made to the traditionally high quality standard. That is the only way to be able to buy a realy good quality item when you finally have the money to be able to pay for it. Otherwise, like nearly everything else, the craftmanship is lost when kopys are made in the east somewhere, and we loose again another craft, sold out to Asia some where.

Having said this, It would be nice, if the kilt makers were to get together, and be able to deliver the exact same top quality product, but for a little less than is now the case, making it more accessible to a greater public, without any quality consessions.

As once the established kraftsmen are forced to shut shop, then all of us are at a loss.

This is where I do say, rather save to buy an expensive item than buy a cheap kopy at the expense of losing more.....

Of course If i could find a "real "kilt, worn a couple of times, but for sale at a large reduction, then I would jump at the chance.

Peter v

[Peter v]

There are plenty of very cheap acrylic kilts available on e-bay.
Here's one I bought recently:-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=010
This seller has some currently listed on e-bay in a variety of tartans.

This is me wearing it soon after it arrived.

Nice looking kilt. The colours are vibrant.

Peterv.

By the way, are there "real"authentic kilts in a lighter summer model? or are all kilts the same? As All season?

Peter v.

[Departed Member]

By the way, are there "real"authentic kilts in a lighter summer model? or are all kilts the same? As All season? Peter v.

You can get 'lighter' models that use thinner materials, or if you prefer the 'real McCoy', i.e., to higher standards, a version called a "breacan" is available which basically uses less material, say 5yds instead of the more usual 8yds. There are version with pockets, too! Also, I have seen garments called "Walking Kilts" which have very few pleats (in all essence, a skirt!) and in tweed, usually accompanied by a jacket and waistcoat in the same material. However, it's a long time since I saw the last, so I don't know if they're still made.

[sapphire]

There are so many factors at play.

What is the fibre? Wool is more expensive than acrylic

How was the plaid fabric made and where? Machine weaving is less expensive than hand weaving. Hand woven fabrics made in the Western world are more expensive than hand woven fabrics made in the East by children in sweatshops.

How was the fabric assembled and by whom? Sweatshop "employees" or artisans?

Then one must examine the political and economic ramifications. Do we support the arts? Do we keep jobs at home or export those jobs? Just look at what happened to the economy of the US when we gave away our steel industry, our manufacturing industry, our technology and even our sutomer support. (I am NOT aksing anyone to agree with US politics, just look at the ecomonic impacts)

Then there are the questions to be asked by any manufacturer. Am I going mass market or specialty?

As a consumer, do you want to wear what everyone else is wearing or do you want something unique?

Let me share the story of my favorite t-shirt. It never appeared in any store. Back when the US government was funding research into nuclear fusion as an energy source, the two major contenders were Lawrence Livermore and the Princeton (University) Plasma Physics Laboratory.

PPL was the first to build a reactor from a Russian design, called a tokamak. Four RF generators were added to help contain the plasma generated by the reactor.

When construction of Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) was completed, emplyees could get t-shirts and were allowed to buy a limited number for their families and only for families. Since my Mom and Step Dad were employees of PPL, I got one of the t-shirts.

The design shows the reactor chamber and four dragons shooting fire into the chamber.

PPL's TFTR was the first fusion reactor to exceed the break even point, putting out more energy than ti took to get the reaction going and sustain it.

The fuel? Seawater.

Sorry, that's off subject, but I had to share it.

[Departed Member]

I would dread the idea of having the market flooded by cheap kopys of the real tghing ( not talking about the light look alike kilt style skirts. .... Otherwise, like nearly everything else, the craftmanship is lost when kopys are made in the east somewhere, and we loose again another craft, sold out to Asia some where. Peter v

There are already copies of "real" Kilts on the market which have been made in Asia, and unfortunately, these can be found even on Princes Street (which used to be all high-class, high-price stores!). The good thing is, that they are a cheaper introduction to the world of Kilts, but don't look quite as good, and don't hold the pleats as well (fine if your hobbies include ironing!)! OK for football matches, 'messing around' or hiking, though!

[Peter v]

I would dread the idea of having the market flooded by cheap kopys of the real tghing ( not talking about the light look alike kilt style skirts. .... Otherwise, like nearly everything else, the craftmanship is lost when kopys are made in the east somewhere, and we loose again another craft, sold out to Asia some where. Peter v

There are already copies of "real" Kilts on the market which have been made in Asia, and unfortunately, these can be found even on Princes Street (which used to be all high-class, high-price stores!). The good thing is, that they are a cheaper introduction to the world of Kilts, but don't look quite as good, and don't hold the pleats as well (fine if your hobbies include ironing!)! OK for football matches, 'messing around' or hiking, though!

Yes, that is true, but as we know, we ( the big buisnesses) in the west, are selling out and we have very little left that is our own.

It is a shame that possibly "sweat shop" labour is supplying us with less expensive / durable kilt kopys. That """should""" have been an side track of the industry here ( largely Scotland / the UK) . If only the labour costs were not so high here. They are actually not so cheap in Asia, I think, if the children sweatshop and unsafe working conditions were not accepted. When people have slave labour and no safety and health regulations, then at a high cost to the people working there, the products can be sold for low prices. But as most labour there seems to be illegal and "Children sweatshop"work, they can deliver to unscrupulous buyers who put those products up for sale here in the west. The real cost of this sellout to the western world is unimaniganable.

In the case of kilts, I really don't see the need to have them made else where, even the "cheaper" models, as I don't think that the numbers needed / sold warrant that. But then again, it seems that nearly everything ""has"" to be made elsewhere.

Peter v.

And yes, a inexpensive kilt is more easily used to be abused than an authentic kilt.

[Ray]

I'll get a Scottish made full price kilt every time. I don't see kilmakers swanning about in Porsches; the cost goes into the garment. Picking up on Sapphire's commentary on preservation of local jobs etc, my money goes into the Scottish economy where possible, and I see no problem with that.

I was in kilt today - at work! The (non UK) students loved it. They were queueing up to have their photo taken with me!

[sapphire]

The latest sweatshop scandal is Victoria's Secret. 75 cents a day, no overtime a minimum of 100 hours a week.

And you can't quit , 'cause they'll throw you in jail.

It was on the news tonight in the US.

Wanna be a radical??? Take action. Support your local ecomony. Support your hometown businesses. Support your local artisans.

[Hotdog]

While I agree with everything that you say about keeping the quality of a traditional kilt, I'm afraid that the only way that's its ever going to be ok for us to wear a skirt is to start with a kilt.The jump from trousers to a skirt is too big for the general public to handle.
The big stumbling block to the general public wearing kilts is the cost of the kilt and all the paraphernalia that goes with it. What we need is a low cost kilt without the sporran and everything that goes with it. Indeed if you were to walk down the high street in the UK these day with a dagger stuck in your sock, you are asking to get tazered or shoot by the local SWAT team!
There is a very good reasons why women's pleated skirts are Acrylic or Polyester/ Viscose, they are low cost,(£30-£40) permanently pleated and easy to wash. Compare that to a traditional man's kilt which can cost over £400 and has to be specialist cleaned and you can see that there is no contest.
There will always be men who will want to wear a traditional Scottish kilt and everything that goes with it, but for the average man in the street it will be far too expensive. For it to catch on we need to think of a kilt as a garment in its own right, not as part of traditional Highland dress that most people wear on special occasions. Basically we need a skirt that looks like a man's kilt, that's permanently pleated and easy to wash otherwise its never going to happen.
I am seriously looking at getting on of these skirts that is made to look like a man's kilt. If it looks like a kilt I don't see why I should not wear it. After all most women are now wearing my jeans, why can't I wear their kilts?
http://www.kinlochanderson.com/highland ... ladieswear

[AMM]

... But If we can say, that the "real" kilts are still being made to the high quality standard, and ( mostly) in Scotland or other quality secure work places, then let's keep that so. I would dread the idea of having the market flooded by cheap kopys of the real tghing ( not talking about the light look alike kilt style skirts. As I think that to be named "Kilt" to me it should be made to the traditionally high quality standard. That is the only way to be able to buy a realy good quality item when you finally have the money to be able to pay for it. ..

The problem with this approach is that you get the current situation: even in that tiny fraction of the population who have or wear kilts, for most of them, a "kilt" is something you only wear on special occasions, like a tuxedo, and only if you have a lot of spare cash to invest in something you rarely wear. 99% of men wouldn't even consider wearing one because it's too much trouble and discomfort and expense, because they're afraid of being made fun of for not "doing it right," and because they'd get tired of being asked "where are your bagpipes?"

If kilts are to become an everyday garment, then there has to be a place for cheap kilts that you don't mind getting beer and ketchup on, and there has to be a broader definition of "kilt" in terms of design and fabric. Kilt advocates will have to stop sneering at $20 acrylic or polyester kilts and stop verbally tarring and feathering those who wear right-over-left or longer-than-knee-length kilts or wearing underwear with them or otherwise failing to observe the ridiculously rigid "kilt code."

If you want men to even consider wearing them in winter, a "winter-length" kilt will have to be allowed as a "real kilt." And you'll need kilts with pockets, not sporrans -- most men will (with good reason!) not take to wearing something every day that routinely whacks them in the most sensitive part of their anatomy. And you'll have to accept other styles, ones which guys who are used to lounging in running shorts or sweats will find comfortable.

Companies such as Utilikilts have done kilts a great service by expanding the definition of "kilt," and I think this is the direction we should go. Narrowing the definition will just give people more reason not to wear them.

[RichardA]

or wearing underwear with them

I wear undies under my kilt along with a slip and pantyhose (tights) when it's cold