Starter Tailored Kilt Advice

[liammaclean]

Hallo all! Due to a flurry of activity in the last couple months, I've managed to snag a good 3 kilts and begin to replace my day wear pants with kilts. At this point, I feel ready to go a bit more all out and get a tailored kilt. I love my current selection (2 Sports kilts, one standard modern UT Kilt, and one of Stillwater's economy kilts), but I want to experience what all the fuss is around custom kilts. All that said, I have no idea where to look or even what material to use. I've been bouncing mostly between Scotsweb and USAKilt and I'm still not sure if I want to go PV or Wool (if I go PV I'll likely go 8 yard, and if wool 5 yard).

My big concern with the wool is that it will stain easily and be hard to clean. I'm rather unfluent in clothing, so I'm not sure if that is something I should be concerned with. A 5 yard wool would likely becoming my "dress kilt" for nicer occasions, so while it wouldn't really be a pub kilt, I would still end up eating in it and I'm a bit of a messy eater. On the other hand, is the PV going to resist stains any better? I'm also worried that I don't have the experience cleaning to deal with a wool kilt. Any tips about how time consuming (or not) this is?

My other concern is getting a decent swish. I hear so much about it, but with my kilt selection (5 yard PVs, and an acrylic), I don't feel like I've really experienced it. Would I be getting decent swish with an 8 yard PV?

Also, looking at Rocky's website I noticed that a hip measurement above like 32 costs extra. I measured myself and I'm at like 34.5. I don't mind paying the extra 10 dollars at all, It's just that the extra cost makes me worry that I've measured wrong as I wonder if my measurement is outside people's normal range (hence the extra cost).

Last thing, I've been thinking about getting a box-pleated kilt down the road but I care never really find anyone who carries them. Anyone know any?

Thanks all, love this community and you've made my return to kilting (or being-kilted?) super easy with your fantastic advice!