Call me frugal, call me cheep

[Braw Cathairneach]

If you want to buy oats, and you want clean fresh oats, you must be prepared to pay a fair price. Oats that have been through the horse once come a little cheaper....

That's good post, very, very good. The best posts and letters-to-editors are like your post, succinct with under-the-radar, tongue-in-cheek humor. Well said, Geoff.

[Tam Piperson]

$40 made in Pakistan:






$195 made in Scotland:

$250 made in Canada:

[gwynng]

The problem is the 'walmart effect'. The more cheaply made import sporrans that come to market, the more it pushes the low end price point down. That sets customer expectations on price (leaving the 'quality issue' aside for a moment) down.

Agreed. If Walmart sold sporrans and kilts, they would all be made in China (or Pakistan!) and cost $29.87 and we'd all be wearing and acrylic kilt and the same sporran. The wonderful part of DYI or custom work is you have something totally unique. And lets face it, we wear kilts to have a unique style and personal statement in our clothing.

[Thomas H]

Agreed. If Walmart sold sporrans and kilts, they would all be made in China (or Pakistan!) and cost $29.87 and we'd all be wearing and acrylic kilt and the same sporran. The wonderful part of DYI or custom work is you have something totally unique. And lets face it, we wear kilts to have a unique style and personal statement in our clothing.

+ 1

[OC Richard]

Thanks Tam for that very clear demonstration that you get what you pay for! (Who makes those Scottish ones BTW? I really like its vintage look!)

Our pipe band bought a load of cheap Pakistani sporrans and not only to they look cheap and "not quite right" but the stitching began coming loose on some, and there are rough metal edges which have ruined some of our kilts! Pennywise and Pound Foolish, I say.

[Tam Piperson]

The sporran shown in this photograph is actually an older one that was sold by J & R Glen. I'm not sure if they manufactured it themselves, or if it was made for them by Wm. Scott who makes a similar style sporran:





Here is the hunting sporran as currently made by Wm. Scott in Edinburgh:



Margaret Morrison in Perth makes a similar hunting sporran that has the braided leather thongs that the Wm. Scott version lacks, but the Morrison version does not have the nicely flared shape of the above examples for some reason, resulting in a more oval appearance, which is not quite as pleasing, though the quality of their work is very good:


This is probably the closest commercially available sporran currently manufactured that you can get to the one which Prince Charles is often seen wearing:



The late Duke of Windsor also had a sporran that was nealy identical, if not the same one:

[Kennedy]

This is probably the closest commercially available sporran currently manufactured that you can get to the one which Prince Charles is often seen wearing:



The late Duke of Windsor also had a sporran that was nealy identical, if not the same one:

Let's see: The Duke was the Prince's great-uncle; a good quality leather item that is well-cared for will last a very long time; a royal is unlikely to have poor quality possessions; prized possessions are likely to be passed on; prized possessions, prized inheritances are often worn with pride. How likely is it that the Prince's sporran is the Duke's sporran? Relatively likely. It is also possible that the Prince's sporran is a reproduction of the Duke's if the original was getting a bit too worn to be kept in use. It is a beauty, in any case.

[RockyR]

They look to be different to my eye. Look at the semi circle of studs in the "cantle area" which are absent on the Prince's.

[Tam Piperson]

They look to be different to my eye. Look at the semi circle of studs in the "cantle area" which are absent on the Prince's.

Yes, you are correct. The all-leather hunting sporran Prince Charles often wears is not the exact same design as the one that was worn by the Duke of Windsor, although they are similar.

The silver-cantled leather sporran that Prince Charles also wears quite often (when he isn't wearing the all leather one) does indeed appear to be the same exact sporran that was originally worn by his great uncle, Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, which was listed for auction along with five other sporrans belonging to the Duke of Gloucester in Christie's 2006 catalog but was later excluded from the auction, presumably because Prince Charles wanted it:

PRINCE HENRY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER'S SPORRANS LATE 19TH CENTURY early 20th century Comprising a group of five: a silver mounted fur sporran by 'R.& H.B.Kirkwood, Edinburgh, 1888', with cartouche of a crowned lion, three tassles; another silver mounted fur sporran by 'R.& H.B.Kirkwood, Edinburgh, 1891', engraved with Celtic ornament, two tassles; a silver mounted sporran by 'Jas.Aitchison, Edinburgh, 1905', tooled leather with five tassles; a tooled leather sporran with six tassles; and another leather backed fur sporran with three tassles Please note that there are only 4 sporrans in this lot and not 5 as stated in the catalogue. The silver mounted sporran by Jas.Aitchison, Edinburgh, 1905, in tooled leather with five tassles is not included in this lot.Please also note that the front part of the silver mount of the white fur sporran has London late Victorian part hall marks. Price Realized: £8,400 ($14,935)

Above from left: Prince Albert (later King George VI), Prince Henry (later Duke of Gloucester) and the Prince of Wales (later Duke of Windsor), shown wearing kilts. Below, Prince Charles wearing the identical sporran:


below: Highland dress worn by the late Duke of Windsor, showing a different silver-mounted sporran (likely the one he was wearing as a boy in the black & white photo, with two of the tassels removed):

[RockyR]

Anyone else notice that the pattern on the front apron of this kilt doesn't appear to be 'centered'? It looks like the gold and white lines are centered.