Hey Rocky, Big Question.

[Dreadbelly]

I'm a little confused by your idea of a great kilt. You complaine that some people wear poorly made ones, and seem to be looking to someone to make one properly. A great kilt is just a very large piece of fabric, no sewing (unless you need to join two pieces of fabric together to make it wide enough) and is pleated by the wearer. check out http://www.geocities.com/dougalmacl/kilt_making.html
My first kilt was a great kilt, in the Aberdeen tartan that was woven specially for me (try finding Aberdeen, you can't with out a special order). I think that what your seeing is that people either don't know how, or don't take the time to put it on right.

Adam

I personally don't want to fuss with spending 30 minutes to an hour properly pleating and wrapping a great kilt, laying it out on the floor, and rolling my self up like a sausage in a biscuit. No offense. It's just not practical. I have seen a few great kilts that are decent enough looking that you can just "put on" but the pleating on those looks funky, and over all I believe those are made just to be costumes. I want something I just put on, throw the wrap over my shoulders in what ever fashion I choose for that day, and just go. And I have seen some very nice great kilts made just that way but the cost is insane, plus, the ones I have seen are wool, dry clean only, and cost so much that I personally would never be able to afford one or wear one.

I am not one for ironing or spending a lot of time getting dressed. Rocky, I believe, understands that. I love the little blurb on his site about the Philabeg being designed for the lazy guy. I want a great kilt based on the same principles. Throw it on and go. If it gets dirty, no panic, no fuss, just wash it. It's not that I am lazy... It's that I am a guy... A man. I want to wake up and be ready to do what ever in 15 to 20 minutes tops. Not spend an hour or two or three getting ready.

I feel the great kilt has the potential to be a simple practical garmet.

I take that to mean that you want something that looks like a great kilt, but that is not a great kilt. While I support the direction you seem to be headed, I too am a bit confused. It seems like you don't want anything traditionally pretaining to the great kilt (wool, the work, drycleaning, etc), but would prefer a low cost, time-effecient solution that will give the illusion of a great kilt. I do like the suggestion of a velcro attatched upper portion added to a philabeg (would look too wrong added to a kilt with a traditional look and buckles IMHO). That would give you the option of a small kilt look, of a great kilt look. Is that what you are getting at?

Ding ding ding!

This is the garmet of simple men, shepherds, and common men. Not to mention frugal Scotts. While I have no problem with the old style great kilt, I feel that like other kilts, it can be modernized or modified slightly to make it practical to the modern age while still paying respect to it's traditional roots. Not an illusion though. That doesn't seem right somehow. Is a modern Philabeg or little kilt that uses velcro, has sewn down pleats, and is made from PV for practical purposes an illusion? Would Rocky or Bear's kilts that have a somewhat modernized touch to them be an illusion? I see what you are saying, I just disagree about the word used to describe it.

Folk on these boards, a lot of them hike, or do outdoorsy stuff. The kilt, being the practical garmet that it is, should do more then just cover their ****. A warm wrap, a quick hood, a garmet that changes to meet the demands of it's wearer. Is that not the very essense of what a kilt should be? It was a blanket, a piece of clothing, a protective head covering, a uniform, it was everything it's wearer desired it to be. How nice would it be if somebody was out hill walking, on a chilly day, and it suddenly starting raining cats and dogs. (Don't step in a poodle) It would be great if your kilt had a swiss army knife aspect. Just whip that wrap around into a hood and a poncho like covering for your shoulders.

I mean no disrespect to the roots of the great kilt, I would like to see it brought into the modern age a bit more, like many of the other neo-traditional kilts. Not that Rocky would offer a camo kilt, but what about some of the other kilt makers (Like PK) offering a neo-traditional camo great kilt for hunters. A highly configurable garmet that fills the needs of the wear as the situation demands. A traditional great kilt, made from wool, dry clean only, costing hundreds of dollars, is not ideal for these situations.

More men would wear them if they were made for more situations to be worn. See what I am saying? It would be like the little kilt slowly gaining acceptance because so many people have worked so hard to make it a modern practical wash and wear easy to care for garmet. I honestly believe there could be a huge demand potential for a product that doesn't actually exist. Seriously. A lot of hunters, hikers, and outdoorsmen would most likely go nuts over something like this. In camo or army duc canvas. Traditionalists would go for tartans.

Am I right or am I crazy? Probably a mix of both.

But I know I would buy one... And probably keep buying them. I am a pragmatist. I love all things practical. And this just screams practical.