Houston Kilts - a Review

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In the photo thread in which I modelled my two new tanks Hamish wrote:-

I am always seeing Houston's advertisements in the newspapers and magazines, and have wondered what their kilt-making standards are like, so I'd be very interested to hear what you have to say in the form of a review.

So here we are, as requested.

I will deal with the Paisley kilt first as this was the one I tried on first.

Both kilts were from the 17 oz range, with super machine finish. This is £30 dearer than the standard machine finish but cheaper than a super hand finished kilt. The kilts are machine stitched but more time is taken in marking and cutting out the scallops so that the kilt will sit and fit better.
Teflon coating is applied to enable rainwater and drink spills to run off the kilt rather than soaking into the wool.
There are about 24 knife pleats in this kilt - more than you get in a casual kilt but only about two thirds as many as my black heavyweight. Both kilts have leather straps and metal buckles.

I felt there was something not quite right about the hang of this kilt when I tried it on. I had fastened the buckles to the maximum fifth hole on each side. The shop assistant offered to take it in slightly but as it seemed a firm enough fit I declined. Only now having worn the kilt a couple of times can I see what the problem is - as you will see in this photo, with the buckles in the same position on each side there is some excess material in the inner apron. The buckles need to be fastened to the fourth hole on one side and the fifth on the other.

The other minor gripe is that towards the kilt pin side the under apron hangs below the outer apron.

The lining and fell at the back extends for about eight inches, and the lining extends about six inches at the front.
All in all a good quality kilt for the money but I will need to contact them and ask them to put right the two minor gripes, namely the buckle positioning and the under apron. I don't anticipate any problems.
I now turn to review the Wallace Hunting Modern in my next post.