A call to regulate the term "kilt"

[Makeitstop]

Trying to regulate away competitors by making it illegal to call cheap tourist oriented products "kilts" is just a bad idea and really quite pathetic. Trying to ensure that only kilts made in Scotland can be called kilts is blatant protectionism, and that is always a bad idea. Trying to do away with any style of kilt which isn't 100% traditional, as well as the traditional solid color Irish kilt, well, that's just arrogant and snobby.

If they want to distinguish their products from the low quality crap, they should simply have a seal of approval from the national association of kiltmakers (or some such organization) and only give it to products which meet their standards. And if anyone is passing off machine made kilts as being hand sewn, then take them to court. That's why there are laws about false advertising.

Let's face it, there is a place for the cheap kilt. I sure as hell wouldn't be getting a kilt if all I could find was a $700 hand sewn tartan kilt. I'm pushing it by paying as much as I did for a sport kilt (an all black sport kilt). Just as I shouldn't have to be homeless because I can't afford to buy a mansion, or be forced to rely on public transportation because I can't afford the porsche, I shouldn't have to give up on the affordable kilts I like because they don't meet someone else's standards.

It's clear that for the most part, they are just trying to make sure that they have control over the kilt market. But do they really think that the tourists who buy the cheap "tartan trash" are going to pay hundreds more just to get that souvenir? Just be happy that they like the kilt and pump money into the economy, even if they don't care that they aren't getting the fanciest thing on the market.

And as for the quality kilts made outside of scotland, and the contemporary kilts, the answer is to compete, and make me want your product over theirs, rather than trying to force them to call it a man-skirt.

Right now the contemporary kilt industry is in it's infancy, and as it grows it could potentially cause far more wide spread interest in kilts which can only be good for these traditional kilt makers. It would be a shame if they actually succeeded in regulating away the new guys in a short sighted attempt at wiping out the competition.