That Old Mystery Kilt Jones

[NancyMan]

Why is it a mystery? Because shopping on Ebay is always a crap shoot. Maybe the seller knows nothing about kilts. Maybe they are fudging the info in order to unload a lemon. You just have to trust your instincts. The facts of the matter are that:

I won another kilt on Ebay this past Tuesday AM and it seems like a bargain. But who knows? I got it for 33.20 GBP plus shipping of 8.17 GBP for a total of about $83 CAN. It remains to be seen if I will have to pay duty on it. The description is as follows-

“TARTAN KILT
Pure wool
Handmade to a very high standard
I'm not sure what Tartan it is as it was a gift some time ago...main colours are blue/green with 15mm wide black "bands" and 5mm red "bands" 4.5 cm turn up on hem
adjustable leather buckled, straps take it from a 30" waist to a 34"waist
and has two leather buckled straps to fasten at waist.
This kilt would be described as "heavy weight"

Q: Hi Can you tell me if it is a full 8 yard kilt or one of the cheaper casual kilts and whether there are any marks, blemishes or repairs required. Regards Donald
A: Its approx 4.5 yds, there are no marks or blemishes..The leather straps have hardly any wear on them. The lining material(Forest green)has no wear on it. I was given it a little time ago by a family friend and it has been stored in tissue paper and boxed since then. Since we are relocating to Spain I cannot take everything with me and I think it a shame it is just stored away. My husband wears the Anderson tartan through his mum. Hope this helps .... Jan”

OK, it would have helped if Jan had mentioned if there was any label inside it and what it said, how many pleats there were, if it was pleated to the sett or the stripe, knife or box pleated, how much the garment weighed, how much rise did it have, etc. I’m doubtful that it has a full 4 inches of adjustability myself (does any traditional kilt have that much?) But since my waist falls right in the middle, I’m reasonably sure it will fit. She says the length is 25 inches. Kinda long for a kilt with this waist size, unless it has a pretty tall rise. I might have to shorten it. I trust that she knows pure wool when she sees/feels it, can tell that it is hand (as opposed to machine) made and also can judge if it is made to a high standard. Several clues indicate that it is a more contemporary styled kilt. There are two, instead of three straps, it is about 5 instead of 8 yards and has a hemmed, rather than a selvedged bottom edge to it. She calls it heavy weight (13 to 16 ounce). I presume this is in comparison to the women’s skirts she would be familiar with, which usually fall in the 8 to 10 oz. range. All in all, it looks like something I’ll be proud to wear. What’s that, pics you say? Well... the picture on Ebay looked light purple rather than blue and green. Like this:



I did a little messing around with the image and came up with this:



Anybody know what tartan this is? Any help will be appreciated. In the meantime, I have the mystery kilt jones. And needless to say,

[GlassMan]

Why does the oriental rug in the background make me worry?

On a serious note, none of my kilts have that much adjustability in the straps. The most any of mine have is about 2 inches. For 4 inches of adjustability those would have to be some mighty long straps.

As for the tartan, try using the Reverse Tartan search over at House of Tartan. It might be able to help if you can figure out the actual colors.

http://www.house-of-tartan.scotland....se/reverse.asp

Personally, I'm not too good at using it because I never know where to start the color sequence.

[NancyMan]

Hi GlassMan,

It may be off topic, buy hey, congrats on your 1000th post!

And, back on topic, not to worry about the rug. The seller of the kilt is in England.

Cheers,
Vincent

[Sherry]

It's difficult to tell from your pics, but it could be Gunn Ancient if there are narrow green stipes running through the blue "blocks."

[Hamish]

It's difficult to tell from your pics, but it could be Gunn Ancient if there are narrow green stipes running through the blue "blocks."

I also think it is Gunn, but I'm not so sure about it being Ancient Colours since the colours seem to be rather too bright and intense. It IS difficult to tell though, from that photo.

Ebay worries me, I must admit. Personally, I have never been able to get to grips with how it really works, and I have seen so much rubbish and badly described items offered there that I don't think I would risk my money that way - but that's just me. All credit to anyone who picks up a genuine bargain there.

[Graham]

It might be Flower of Scotland, ancient Gunn or even Ancient Morrison, all are similar.

[Pleater]

Why does the oriental rug in the background make me worry?

Er - thats a pretty standard carpet pattern for the UK - at least it was at one time - fashions swing from plain to patterned over a fairly long cycle - just at the moment I am trapped with patterned carpets too expensive to replace, and patterned curtain material as the only option to buy, but in colours which will not meld with the carpets.

Maybe I should try knitting some.