Now the tale can be told

[NancyMan]

The Friday before last I found myself sleepless around 2AM. I recalled that there was a kilt I'd been watching on ebay and that the auction ended about 10 in the morning. Without even putting my specs on I fired up the computer and saw that only 15 pounds had been bid so far on a band new Royal Stewart tank. Since I had some credit with PayPal, I made a max bid of 30 BP and went back to bed, thinking it not likely that I would win. Got up and went to work without checking to see if I'd been outbid. Went straight from work to a concert so I didn't get in till late. When I checked my email I saw the expected bid confirmation, but was horrified to see that I'd accidently bid 3000 pounds! (I guess I substituted a comma for a decimal point in my bleariness. ) Needless to say, I'd won the auction. With trembling hands I checked the next message and then thanked the patron saint of fools that it had only been bid up to 82.50 BP. With shipping, the kilt cost me just under $220 CAN. or about 1/3 of its real value. The shipping took a scant 6 days and I took delivery yesterday. The kilt gods were still smiling down upon me, so I paid no duty whatsoever! (The seller had declared it as a gift.) :grin:

Since the basting stitches were still in and it had been expertly rolled and packed, I didn't even have to press it. What a strange and wonderfull beast it is. While the seller claimed "Made by a military tailor in the nice heavy army weight wool." it can't possibly be 22 oz- it might not even be 16 oz material- though it easily outweighs my former heavyweight champ, a UK denim. Total weight for this 7 yarder is about 3.5 lbs. There is no label to indicate its origin, but it is clearly handsewn and very precisely knife pleated to the sett. Where things get weird is with the buckles. There are only two of them and they are too small to work well with leather straps this thick. I had to trim the width of the straps by 1/8' to even get them through the buckles and once I did, the two sharp tines on each buckle stuck straight out rather than lay flat against the side. Unless I let the straps bow out to shield the tines, they will poke me in the elbows and pull sweaters unmercifully. As soon as I can find more appropriate buckles, they shall replace the stock ones. That gripe aside, this is a very beautiful, very comfortable garment that fits like it was tailored for me. I just happened to have a tam in the identical tartan, so last night I went out on the town impeccably kitted and kilted. I turned heads and felt like a million bucks.

Colour me extremely :mrgreen:
Vincent

[GMan]

Vincent,

What a fortunate tale indeed. Glad that everything worked out in your favor, and wear it well.

[Riverkilt]

Great by Nancyman!

So, tell us more. Was it being sold by a kiltmaker? Who?

Or, was it sold by a private party?

You're a braver man than I do deal on ebay...I'm still chicken...

Ron

[Mr. Kilt]

Great by Nancyman!

So, tell us more. Was it being sold by a kiltmaker? Who?

Or, was it sold by a private party?

You're a braver man than I do deal on ebay...I'm still chicken...

Ron

Too cool, Nancyman! What a great ending to what could have been a nightmare. Pics!! We need pics!!

Ron...Ebay really isn't that scary. I've been buying & selling there since 1996 and have only had one problem, and it was a very minor one. I'm currently selling off a pile of my collectibles and will be listing a bunch more stuff this afternoon. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZboydwho

[Bob C]

I've bought a bunch of stuff on Ebay, including a kilt and most of my kilt acessories. Ebay is great.

Never bid 3k pounds on anything, though. :grin:

[Southern Breeze]

Great story! That 3k bid may have scared anyone else from bidding. Congrats on the kilt.

[NancyMan]

Great by Nancyman!

So, tell us more. Was it being sold by a kiltmaker? Who?

Or, was it sold by a private party?

You're a braver man than I do deal on ebay...I'm still chicken...

Ron

Hi Ron,

Nope, not a kiltmaker, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say it was manufactured in the far east by someone who was an extremely good tailor. They probably had a model to work from and went from there.

And since I don't have a digital camera, here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Someday soon I'm going to corral a buddy of mine into taking pics of me in all of my kilts. I'll post them then.

Cheers,
Vincent

[Bob C]

Is it just me, or does that not look exactly like Royal Stewart?

[GlassMan]

Not enough colors in it for Royal Stewart. Royal Stewart is horrible busy.