DC Dalgliesh

[Troglodyte]

I found most shops near/around the Royal Mile were just tourist traps. There are some gems though.

There was a time when the Highland dress outfitters on the Royal Mile and around about were as good as anywhere, but those who like to prey on tourists' eagerness soon moved in with their 'tartan tat' and spoiled it all.

Princes Street was home to the large department stores selling superb quality goods, like Jenners, but these too have have lost out to cheap imports and changing ways. Edinburgh is no longer the city it once was.

For 'real' Highand dress and 'proper' outfitters, the visitor needs to get out into the wilds - like Stirling for Hendersons, or Pitlochry where Macnaughtans (shopping as it should be - since 1835 is their claim) still gives the buyer an experience of the good old days.

Maccalls and Alex Scott in Aberdeen, or Houstons in Paisley (not to mention all the others spread across Scotland) are genuine outfitters in the old style, with on-site tailoring, but none of these are really convenient for those basing themselves in Edinburgh. The kiltmakers in Grantown-on-Spey or Tarland and other remote or rural locations need the trade much more than those on the Royal Mile.

Perhaps we need to organise a coach-tour holiday for keen kilties, doing the 'tartan trail' like people do with the whisky trail. Any takers..?