Carnegie tartan synthetic?

[ggibby]

SO, Carnegie is not the most attractive pattern I've seen (now showing in my Gallery), but as an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University, well...

I've tried the pipe band there, and they have nothing retired to sell. As a daily kilt wearer, I prefer the synthetics anyway.

Have no interest in commissioning new cloth to get my 6 yards, and e-mails to folks at the school have not been replied to. Where might I find, or begin looking for, Carnegie in synthetic?

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Honestly, for the majority of tartans that aren't listed with Bear or USAK, it's pretty much a shot in the dark as to finding them. Everything else is wool.

If you print-out the picture of the Carnegie tartan and take it with you to every fabric place that you go to, you might just get lucky and find it... or come REAL close. You might even try eBay under "plaid fabric" or "plaid material" and enter the base color to weed-out the others.

That comes from a guy that used to have to search everywhere for tartans for the business!

[ggibby]

Thanks Jimmy-
I suspected as much, but now there's no doubt.

The university has a 'Shoppe' where they sell various logo merchandise. I'll try to find someone there who agrees that they should stock casual kilts in Carnegie. Might work, eh?

-G

[Rigged]

ggibby,

I'm from Pittsburgh and used to party at the dorms at CMU back in the early '70s (I was in high-school, but I knew how to find the best parties). Do they still have "floor parties" there?

The drawbacks I see of having kilts in stock anywhere are the issues of fit and quality. But for casual wear in a "school spirit" environment (parties, games, etc.) those issues might not be so important.

[Jimmy Carbomb]

In the early days of USAKilts, we considered approaching the colleges and fraternities with solid kilts in school colors... and adding either the school mascot patch or the fraternity letters on the front apron. They would have been made-to-order, with one example hanging in the Union Store, or where ever. We never pursued it really.

Sounds like a perfect fit and item for Pittsburgh Kilts!?!

[ggibby]

ggibby,
<snip>Do they still have "floor parties" there?

The drawbacks I see of having kilts in stock anywhere are the issues of fit and quality.<snip>

Well, I was a Kappa Sigma, so my dorm party experience was very limited, but it seemed to improve when the 'new' (1992) dorms were built, as the halls and rooms were more spacious.

I agree about the kilt stock issues, but it just seems to me that a university that actually has a tartan should sell more than ties, scarves and tam-o-shanters. I have all of those already. And Carnegie Mellon frequently touts its support of local business development, so PK should be an ideal partner. Might need to find a pattern that looks like a circuit board, too...

And from the Kilted Revolution front (Drop Yer Trou!), if we can get more college guys to burn credit on kilts instead of alcohol and stereo gear, the recruiting will go faster.

[Riverkilt]

Years ago (when women weren't wearing bras) I sold caps and gowns to universities.

My company worked with the university bookstores for not just the mass graduation rental of caps and gowns, but to sell individual caps and gowns to the professors who had to wear them frequenly.

Like tartans for kilts he hoods that indicate the degree field, degree level, and university the degree is from hoods had to be ordered on an individual basis. And of course the style of gown for master's and doctorate degrees are different BUT STILL UNBIFURCATED

I'm guessing most university bookstores still provide the same service - taking individual orders for unbifurcated gowns and individual hood color combinations.

Would be easy for them to take similar orders for an "official" university tartan kilt. All they do is measure, just like they measure for a cap and gown purchase.

I submit that the mechanism is already in place at every university. University Bookstore managers like that they don't need to expend any money on inventory. They just measure, deliver, and make a clean profit with academic regalia, why not with academic tartan kilts too??

A manufacturer might need to donate a starter kilt to display at the bookstore. Or better, do what Ford did with the first mustangs. Find some student leaders willing to wear one on campus and give them the kilt in exchange for wearing it regularly to attract attention. That and a few student newspaper ads and maybe a feature article about the university tartan, how it evolved, the concept of wearing kilts over pants etc.

Guess you can take the old guy out of marketing but you can't take the marketing out of the old guy.

Jeff,Mike, Steve, Rocky...you guys listening....??

Ron

[ggibby]

SO, Carnegie is not the most attractive pattern I've seen (now showing in my Gallery), but as an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University, well...

I've tried the pipe band there, and they have nothing retired to sell. As a daily kilt wearer, I prefer the synthetics anyway.

Have no interest in commissioning new cloth to get my 6 yards, and e-mails to folks at the school have not been replied to. Where might I find, or begin looking for, Carnegie in synthetic?

[Pittsburgh Kilts]

A CMU kilt story:

Several months ago I went to a dart "luck of the draw" in a kilt (as usual). One of the other darters was a LARGE black fellow we call "D-Train". Now D-Train is always a very cool guy, but this night he had been drinking for several hours, and was particularly animated. He spotted my kilt, let out a yell, and immmediately adopted me as a long lost brother. It seems that D-train is a CMU graduate.

At one point during the night, D-Train overheard someone making a comment about my kilt. He came over and put his arm around me, and announced, "Hey man, you can't say anything bad about the kilt! I wear a kilt, too. Of course, it's a different color, but we can't discriminate on the basis of color, now can we?" He gave out a big old smile, and burst out laughing!

Gotta love CMU alums. Now, if you are interested in a two-tone kilt in CMU colors, give me a call!!

[Jimmy Carbomb]

Honestly, for the majority of tartans that aren't listed with Bear or USAK, it's pretty much a shot in the dark as to finding them. Everything else is wool.

If you print-out the picture of the Carnegie tartan and take it with you to every fabric place that you go to, you might just get lucky and find it... or come REAL close. You might even try eBay under "plaid fabric" or "plaid material" and enter the base color to weed-out the others.

That comes from a guy that used to have to search everywhere for tartans for the business!