County Cavan HoE Kilt - Take 2...

[pdcorlis]

As you may know MacSimoin and I ordered County Cavan casual kilts from Tartankilt.com the House of Edgar storefront - on the same day (kinda weird huh). He was home when the delivery van came so he had his on Friday. I was out - so I mine was delivered yesterday - so here are a couple of photos.






Now for a quick review:

What I like...

The Fabric... Its wool, lets face it wool is amazing stuff.
The Pleating... Great job of pleating to the sett.
The Construction... ok - so its machine stitched, the overall build quality is great.
The Fit... its just right.
The Tartan... I mean look at it gang - its beautiful.
The Communication... Prompt response to all emails sent before and after.
The Delivery... Two days from Scotland to my door and no extra charges!

What I don't like

The Belt Loops... Like MacSimoin's kilt - not even close to centered - how hard can it be to get this right?
The Straps... Actually they're "ok" - but they could be anchored to the fabric better.
The Invered Pleat... The right side underapron invered pleat is VERY skimpy.

All in all this is a very nice kilt and well worth the price. The pleat depth is on par with my Buchannan Semi-Traditional from USAK and the fabric feels first rate. I'm really beginning to think there's nothing quite like wool. nothing looks quite like it and nothing moves quite like it.

[Big Paul]

Very nice kilt!

[Freelander Sporrano]

That is one great looking kilt. You wear it well. Very well.

I'd write to your kilt maker and get the matching flashes too

[cessna152towser]

Very smart looking kilt. The problem you mention with the belt loops isn't noticeable in the photo.

[randyrandy]

Very sharp looking.

[MacSimoin]

Phil,

First and foremost, fantastic pics. You look great as usual, and I'm so happy that you finally got your Cavan kilt.

Second, I have to agree with every single one of your "likes" and "dislikes". The belt loop thing is a puzzler...how hard is it to center them?

Third, allow me to add another minor complaint: Although I am very pleased with this kilt and the whole buying experience, I did originally request that my kilt be pleated-to-stripe (which is just my personal preference). I was informed that since there's only 5 yards of material to work with, the pleating would be at the discretion of the kilt maker. Funny thing is, I've got other kilts that are less than 8 yards and they're pleated-to-stripe. So, why can't Edgar's kilt makers do the same? Is it actually harder to do?

Anyway, I'm glad you got your kilt, Phil. You wear it well. Thanks for the pics!

PS Just reinstalled Coppermine, so click the "My Kilt Pics" link under my signature to see more kilt pics...not much there since I just started uploading today.

[Kilted_John]

Hey, guys, I've noticed similar things about my MacKenzie tartan kilt that I got in late 2002. The belt loops are off a bit, but since I wear my belt over them, it's not visible. The kilt was ordered pleated to stripe, but, it seems like whoever did the pleating tried to pleat to the stripe and didn't get it exactly right. Looks a little like a compressed version of a normal pleated-to-sett kilt. They had enough material, so that's not a problem. 9 yards is enough. It's ok with me, but my next kilt will probably be done locally by North Channel Kilts, just like my first one was. Worth the extra $200.00, IMHO. I did have issues with the straps coming loose, but the owner of North Channel Kilts fixed those issues himself at no charge.

-J

[bangkok kilt]

Great pics PD.

Thanks for the review too. I'll keep it in mind when getting ready to purchase my Irish county tartan.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

A lot of other major kilt making firms out there will tell you the same thing about their "casual" kilts (4 or 5 yard varieties) -- that they cannot be pleated to stripe because of the amount of cloth.

I don't know how or why they came up with this line, but it's not just Hoiuse of Edgar. It's a lot of them.

It really doesn't make sense to me. As I've pointed out a couple of times in recent threads on this forum, the very first tailored kilt we know of was a Gordon Highlanders regimental kilt from 1794. It contained exactly 3 yards and 2 inches of cloth and was pleated to the stripe! (There are pictures in Bob Martin's All About Your Kilt if anyone owns a copy).

Since pleating to stripe was the norm in military box pleated kilts from the beginning, and in civilian box pleated kilts from the early 1800s, I pleat the majority of kilts I make to stripe. You can see a lot of them in my gallery:
http://kilts.albanach.org/pics.html

Look especially at the ancient MacFarlane kilt in the top right. That one is actually a 5 yard knife pleated kilt, and so more comparable to the County Cavan kilt in this thread. It's pleated to stripe, no problem.

Aye,
Matt

[porrick]

Now that is a very handsome kilt! And you wear it well, eh, dignified is a better word