Newbie kilt choice help!!!please

[SilkyJ]

Alright gents I hope this is the right place for this question but I need some help choosing between two kilt brands. I really like both stumptown and angry bastard kilts. I really like low maintenance and it appears for the research I have don’t that stumptown kilts have the lowest maintenance. Both seemed be made well and both are made in America which I like. Can someone help push me one way or the other. Both have “hidden” front apron pockets which seems pretty cool to me. I don’t think the pocket system that stumptown has, it seems tacky. Help I need help

[MacHeath]

I'm a newbie myself, but I have had a kilt for a year or so. I went to both their web sites just to get a sense of what they have for sale. Let me begin by saying that I only intend to wear tartan kilts. But from a practical point of view, just like with any other piece of clothing, it really comes down to what you want the kilt for. How will you use it and how often? Having looked at both their sites, I don't see any real difference in quality, so if one were lower maintenance and that mattered to me and it also happened to be lower priced, it would be an easy decision for me personally. However, I'm the first to post a response, so if someone who has more real knowledge of the two companies posts, go with what they say.

[PhysicsIsPants]

I have never tried Angry Bastard kilts but I do have a StumpTown that I enjoy using. I have found that the modular cargo pocket design is really useful for hiking or backpacking, but for everyday use I am good with just the hidden front pocket and a sporran. The material has a good weight to it and behaves as advertised. I just toss it in the washing machine (usually with towels) and then hang it up to air dry. The stitching and riveting do a good job of maintaining the box pleat design and ironing it isn't something I have had to worry about.

If I had to give one complaint, it would be that the hidden pocket openings are not wide enough for my hand to enter easily; however, the pocket is accessible to both right and left hands, and has plenty of space in it. My hand just catches on the way out of the pocket enough that I have actually unsnapped the far side of my front apron when I wasn't wearing a belt. That being said, just wearing a belt with it fixes the issue.

[The Wizard of BC]

When I first started out making kilts the new solid color utility style kilts were all the rage.

Before long there were almost 100 makers out there and they were experimenting and trying new things almost daily.

One of the biggest selling points was the machine washability of the fabrics many makers were using. The most successful fabrics were the poly/cotton fabrics similar to that found in "Dockers" brand trousers.

Duck canvas and Denim were also sometimes used but these are 100% cotton and shrink and require ironing after each washing. This was fine for those who prefer a "grung" look but were a lot of extra work for those who want straight pleats without wrinkles.

Denim proved to be a horrid fabric for kilts. Denim continues to shrink throughout it life and without rigorous ironing and manual stretching after each washing soon took on the look of a ballet tutu.

Duck canvas like the fabrics found in the "Carrhart" line of work clothing was often chosen by those looking for the ultimate in durability. But Duck canvas wrinkles just by looking at it. The work clothes trouser legs have human legs inside them and that seemed to keep the wrinkling and shrinking under control better than loose pleats did.

These machine washable fabrics were also found to require lines of machine stitching on both the inside and outside edges of every pleat as cotton and cotton blend fabrics did not hold a crease very well.

The construction of the vast majority of the utility style kilts was more like jeans construction than kilt construction. With jean construction the strength of the garment comes from the strength of the outer fabric and the strength of the stitching.
Kilt construction is more like that found in a suit coat that has hidden interfacing. The strength of the garment comes from the interfacing allowing the outer fabric to drape and swish naturally.

You may notice that there are far fewer utility style makers still out there than there once were.

Part of this is just due to the vagaries of the fashion world. When they first came out, the utility kilts were new and different. Before long the newness factor wore off and the fashion world moved on to the next new thing.

Another factor is that many people bought a solid color kilt because of a very common misunderstanding over Tartan needing some "rights" or "belonging" to wear it. This forum was started and thrived when this type of thinking was shown to be far less important than used to be believed.

And then there seems to be a part of the kilt wearing world that sees the kilt as "uber macho" or use it as some sort of sexual innuendo. Hence all of the advertising with guys in kilts doing very "tactical" stuff or the shirtless guys or the lifting the kilt photos you see so often.

And one big selling point was that the utility style kilts could be worn with the waist down on the hips where blue jeans are worn. Unfortunately this lower waist style, started by the utility kilts, is often carried over into the Tartan kilt world.

I personally have met the guys from Stumptown kilts. Nice guys. They were advertisers here for a short while. Personally I am not a fan of the inverted taper to the aprons that Stumptown kilts developed but many do like it.

I can't say that I have ever seen an Angry Bastard kilt in person. But the Duck canvas fabric probably fits in with the "wrinkled, I don't care what you think" advertising. I would be more concerned about the mixing of light weight Tartan inserts being far less rugged and durable than the Duck canvas parts of the kilt.

So in the end, it comes down to - "What do you want to do in your kilt?" and "What image do you want to portray to the world?"

[pbutts]

So in the end, it comes down to - "What do you want to do in your kilt?" and "What image do you want to portray to the world?"

I can't help you with the comparison. I picked up a used Stumptown kilt from another member here and while I like it, I don't wear it very often. Surprisingly, I find it needs more maintenance than my other kilts. The pleats need to be ironed frequently whereas my traditional wool kilts and my PV casual kilt from USA Kilts almost never do. If the price is a concern, I would check out the reviews on the USA Kilts casual kilt, and as you browse around the site, think about what you are looking for in a kilt.

[Pleater]

If it is any help - all my cotton kilts are ironed after being sprayed with starch on the inside of the fabric, then lightly pressed. It seems to help keep them in better order for longer and a spray of warm water - a trick my iron can do, reactivates the starch for a couple more pressings.

Anne the Pleater

[SilkyJ]

I have never tried Angry Bastard kilts but I do have a StumpTown that I enjoy using. I have found that the modular cargo pocket design is really useful for hiking or backpacking, but for everyday use I am good with just the hidden front pocket and a sporran. The material has a good weight to it and behaves as advertised. I just toss it in the washing machine (usually with towels) and then hang it up to air dry. The stitching and riveting do a good job of maintaining the box pleat design and ironing it isn't something I have had to worry about.

If I had to give one complaint, it would be that the hidden pocket openings are not wide enough for my hand to enter easily; however, the pocket is accessible to both right and left hands, and has plenty of space in it. My hand just catches on the way out of the pocket enough that I have actually unsnapped the far side of my front apron when I wasn't wearing a belt. That being said, just wearing a belt with it fixes the issue.

Thank you for that info man I really appreciate it I am leaning toward stumptown mostly because of the adjustable waist size and I do like apron pocket. I really like how low maintenance you said it is

[SilkyJ]

O man thank you so much for all information to help in the deciding what kilt to get. I guess for me kilts at this point are my replacement to shorts. I dress casual as it is, mostly wearing black dickies pants.so I figured solid color would be the way to go. You all have given me a lot to think about whether cotton or a cotton blend would work for me better. I will look into kiltsusa as well. Thanks for the help and for the tip on starching as well. I will let y’all know when I get my new pair. Collecting kilts is addictive and this is your public service announcement lol

[KnittedReenactor]

If you want a more traditional style for an entry level- ie. not a cargo- kilt, then check out USAKilts. $100 Casual Kilt- inexpensive, polyviscose has better characteristics than acrylic or cotton (this is real pv not mislabeled acrylic) but is still machine washable, can be dress up or down in a way the others can't.
Best of all, that $100 kilt is made custom to YOUR measurements. That means it fits and looks better than a competing $100 off the racks.