D.C. Dalgliesh - an update on changes

[mookien]

madmacs: I, and the "trade customer" I am dealing with, have been waiting for 7 months for some cloth from Dalgliesh. It may come next month. Admittedly, it is a custom run and, apparently, requires some dyeing of thread, but that's still a long time.

After waiting for months, Jonesing turns into numbness. You sit in front of your TV staring at the blank screen, guzzling Woolite and sucking and chewing on your wool accessories like diced hose and old flashes (but not my Ryan Ross bonnet). It's a debilitating disease!

[Barb T]

Hi all,

I have wondered for years how Dalgliesh could do custom weaves for single kilt lengths at the prices they have charged for many years. Warping a loom is a significant effort, and there is considerable waste involved in thread that cannot be woven and has to be left on the loom or in the initial tie-in.

Everyone in the kilt making and wearing community has enjoyed the benefits of these stunningly low prices for over a decade, and I hope that, now that prices are actually commensurate with what it takes to weave small custom lengths, we all won't recriminate or whine too much.

In the long run,we will all benefit from Nick's foresight and financial ability to keep Dalgliesh afloat while they have reorganized. It might mean that a customer will have to save a bit longer for a custom weave, but, if that's what someone wants, it's worth it in the long run. There's no price gouging going on here.

So, I truly hope we won't see any loudness about this.

[madmacs]

Mookien: I've waited for locharron before, so no big deal...

Barb: It wasnt meant as a complaint, hopefully nick has a decent marketing strategy to promote them as a higher end bespoke mill...

[Seanmhair]

So as I am reading this, if we want a length of tartan woven by Dalgliesh we would order through Scotweb rather than from Dalgliesh directly.

Will only tartans not otherwise available from say Locharron be available?

I guess I am asking if it is not listed by DCDalg, will we just take what is listed on the Scotweb site?

And I do understand about price increases. We really appreciate what you are doing for the industry and the continued availability of such an important commodity

[seanachie]

But I remain quite annoyed with what they did when my kilt maker tried to order Ulster Peat. They had it listed as a stock Tartan and then tried to charge the same price per meter for 29" as 54" wide. This despite several individuals indicating this was not how their order had been dealt with for the same tartan. While I would not rule out attempting to select one of their tartans again, this left a very bad taste in my mouth as I had to cancel the order with the exorbitant increase.

[English Bloke]

I just priced up a 8yd 15oz custom weave through Scotweb. Unfortunately it's way out of my reach.

[Spartan Tartan]

I just priced up a 8yd 15oz custom weave through Scotweb. Unfortunately it's way out of my reach.

I can't even seem to find the prices.

[Nick Fiddes]

But I remain quite annoyed with what they did when my kilt maker tried to order Ulster Peat. They had it listed as a stock Tartan and then tried to charge the same price per meter for 29" as 54" wide. This despite several individuals indicating this was not how their order had been dealt with for the same tartan. While I would not rule out attempting to select one of their tartans again, this left a very bad taste in my mouth as I had to cancel the order with the exorbitant increase.

Likewise, if you could pm me details I'd be glad to look into this. My understanding was that when stock double width fabric was unavailable they would sometimes offer to weave it as a single, but I thought that in those circumstances they'd do so at the same overall price. However, I could be wrong, so I'd like to know the facts.

In any event, I understand your disappointment. I hope you'll consider giving us another chance in the future.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Likewise, if you could pm me details I'd be glad to look into this. My understanding was that when stock double width fabric was unavailable they would sometimes offer to weave it as a single, but I thought that in those circumstances they'd do so at the same overall price. However, I could be wrong, so I'd like to know the facts.

In any event, I understand your disappointment. I hope you'll consider giving us another chance in the future.

That has happened to me a few times in the past when a tartan they normally stock in 54" was out of stock and would not be available for when I needed it. They wove a short length for my order, 29" wide, and only charged me the 54" price.

This does NOT mean that I paid for 54" and only got 29", which sounds like a rip-off. It means that I was charged for 2 yards of 54" stock tartan, whereas they delivered 4 yards of 29" custom tartan. I'm sure they took a loss when they did this, but I was grateful of the service.

Furthermore, they always offered - I never had to ask.

What your case sounds like to me is a failure somewhere in communication.

[Nick Fiddes]

So as I am reading this, if we want a length of tartan woven by Dalgliesh we would order through Scotweb rather than from Dalgliesh directly.

Will only tartans not otherwise available from say Locharron be available?

I guess I am asking if it is not listed by DCDalg, will we just take what is listed on the Scotweb site?

And I do understand about price increases. We really appreciate what you are doing for the industry and the continued availability of such an important commodity

For non-trade customers (i.e. basically not purchasing for re-sale) then yes, you can purchase from Scotweb (or "Tartan Mill" in future) or indeed from any other retail outlet. Don't forget the XMTS discount we give to anyone coming via this site.

And no, Dalgliesh doesn't only weave fabrics not available elsewhere. Our mill does have its own speciality stock fabrics - especially the Reproduction colours that they pioneered, and everyone else copied, and also Dance tartans of course. But we also have a decent range of clan tartans etc. in Modern and Ancient colours, some of which overlap with other mills, and we will go on doing so for customers who value the quality of fabric we produce. Plus of course, any tartan can be woven to order, unless it's strictly copyright.

But Scotweb/Tartan Mill will continue to supply not only D.C. Dalgliesh fabrics, but essentially every tartan we can source from every mill in the country. So if you can't find it here, it's probably not available.