The scenario: you have ordered a handsewn kilt from your favorite kiltmaker, waited patiently for word that first the fabric has arrived, then that you have reached near the top of your kiltmaker's stack, jones building, then that your kilt is actually under construction, followed by the receipt of tracking numbers when the heightened jones really begins and you start to shake and sweat, and then the glorious day when the package is found leaning against your front door looking like a lost puppy in need of a good home. You are much more calm now and patiently and lovingly carry it inside, sometimes lingering a few minutes doing some unnecessary small daily chore, just to make the jones last a little longer, then you swiftly and deftly rend open the package to find your prize like a small child with a box of cracker jacks. You hold it up in front of you, admiring yourself in the mirror, and when the time is right strip off your existing clothes and try it on for fit, giving it the once over for finish before pulling the basting stitches and really getting to know her for the first time. You wear it around the house a bit, give it a good steaming to remove any transit wringles in the aprons, then wear it proudly out in public, and post pictures here for all your friends to ooh and ahh and have envious thoughts and comments.

How long does it take for that special shiny new toy feeling to wear off, until that kilt becomes another in the closet in the queue to be worn for the appropriate occasion, the right day, with the right accessories? How long before it just becomes another one of the several or many? How do you maintain its special meaning to you, keep it fresh and furtive in your own mind? How long till the thrill is gone?

jeff