We've been down this path before...obviously it's being revisited because it's the sort of thing that pops up in forum members' minds.

The crux of the question really is how would things be if kilts were more mainstream; using the image of kilts being sold at Walmart is really just a way of saying that a larger number of people would be buying kilts and mass marketers would get on the bandwagon to capitalize on the phenomena.

There seems to be an assumption that mass production of kilts would mean that the quality of the product would decline. It seems to be a further assumption that the quality would decline if the production of the kilts was outsourced to some certain countries. These both seem on the surface to be reasonable assumptions but if you think about it they might not prove to be true. If the model is a tank as the highest standard, wouldn't it be possible that a mass produced kilt might not be so different from a tank as a decent off-the-rack suit is from a custom tailored one? We're not defining a price point here...thirty bucks? Couple of hundred? Would it be different if was sold at The Gap or as a Chaps product. One could easily see a cheap kilt being sold at a mass-market soucre while a more upscale one might be sold at a more upscale merchandiser. KMart versus Neiman Marcus?

And let's get off of that "I'll never shop at Walmart" bandwagon. If it hasn't cut through yet, whether or not you actually shop at Walmart has very little to do with most of the significant economic trends that affect the American economy in general. For all of the anecdotal stuff about there being some kind of mass reaction to Walmart's business practices, have you seen many Walmarts being closed lately? It's a lot more complicated than just sticking it to Walmart or Costco. This is akin to that email that tells you that you can bring gas prices down by boycotting BP stations only...sounds like it might work and you certainly wish that some action that you perform might have some effect on the problem but the reality is that it ain't gonna work no matter how much you wish it will.

The real thing is whether or not kilts would get to be like Dockers, available off the rack in a range of sizes, and that they wouldn't be special anymore. Once upon a time only busy and important people had cell phones that cost a fortune to use and now every joker is yakking away with an unlimited plan. Can you deal with something that distinguishes you as an iconoclast and a special person turning into the status quo?

When I was young tatoo's were for the outsiders...there was a certain stigma attached to being tatooed...you were making a dramatic statement about your relationship with society. Anybody want to tell me what tatoo's are now? Pretty mainstream...every twenty-something has at least one visible and these are people who are conforming to a societal norm and not pushing the outside of the envelope. Does this somehow diminish the impact of being tatooed?

Many of us just don't want to give up one or more of our "totems" to the ordinary world. What was the line from "The Sting"? "No sense being a grifter if it's the same as being a citizen."

If they sold 'em at Walmart, they'd be for ordinary citizens. That's why we get the heebie-jeebies bout kilts being mass-marketed.

Best

AA