Dealing with the "Fat Tax"

[Gaian]

I am curious how individual kiltmakers deal with larger sizes. How do you charge for them? per yard, per extra pleat....? There is substantially more work in a kilt for larger sizes and I am wondering how you manage to diplomatically charge for this. Your help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[RockyR]

More material = more money.

On our Semi Trad and Casual model, we bump up prices in $10 incriments at certain hip measurements... this helps to cover the cost of the fabric. There's not TOO Much more labor in a kilt with 50" hips from 45 " hips, so we basically eat that cost.

[The Wizard of BC]

As with Rocky, we at FK did a little math and found where the fabric and man-hour breaks are and charge accordingly. Our breaks come at the per pleat point above 40" waist.
We do not charge for "The beer gut cut" as some do because we believe that is a normal part of getting a garment to fit correctly. We use the same angled or sloped waist on all our kilts. For some it is angled a little more than for some others.

[Rigged]

I'm one of the fat guys who pays extra. No diplomacy is needed. It makes sense to me that it takes more material and more work to cover my over-large behind.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I charge extra to cover the cost of extra cloth I need to buy, but I don't charge any extra for the labor -- although it always takes longer, as there is typically a lot more stitching involved in the larger kilts.

I use the hip measurement as my guide. I can fit anyone with hips under 46" in a four yard kilt. If their hips are over 46", I'll get an extra yard of cloth, though I don't always need it. Some guys take six yards, but I've yet to meet a man that I couldn't get in a six yard kilt.

Aye,
Matt

[cjbass]

At Utilikilts we charge above a size 39. I'm a 41, and rapidly expanding into 42 territory, so I pay extra for my kilts as well.

The extra fabric - as Rocky mentioned - is not such a big deal. It really is the extra work that makes the cost go up. A yard of fabric is less than $5, in non-tartan, non-wool fabrics, so the price of the raw materials is not such a burden.

But sewing pleats IS. Bigger waistband = more pleats. Those take time, and skill, and as you get more and more fabic into the kilt, it gets harder and harder to sew... especially managing the big 'ol pile of fabric hanging off the left side of the sewing machine!

So ya get the Fat Bastard penalty... aka, higher prices for larger waistlines.

Make sense?
- CJ