Kilt question

[Tobus]

One thing I think bears repeating in no uncertain terms: a good kilt is only as good as the measurements it was built to. Even the best kiltmaker in the world can't make you a well-fitting kilt if the measurements you send don't align with the way they intend it to fit. Every kiltmaker has slightly different instructions or descriptions. If they can't measure you in person, it's best to make sure you're measuring per their instructions to the tee. Even something as minor as how tight you pull the tape around you can make a huge difference in how your kilt fits, hangs, etc.

I just say this because many of the comments in the above posts are describing fit issues, not necessarily construction quality issues. A kilt can be the best quality in the world and still not hang right if your measurements weren't adequate.

And, of course, it bears saying that even though a kilt is designed to have some adjustment in the buckles/straps, it's not going to hang the same at all of those adjustments. One of the downsides of ordering a bespoke kilt is that the wait time is so long, you could gain or lose weight in the meantime. And over the decades you'll be wearing it too. If your body shape changes, your perfectly-fitted kilt is going to start to hang funny. It doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't a quality kilt.

[Dirk95]

Tobus you are quite right, any kilt is as good as the measurements provided and inline with the kilt makers instructions. Personally I prefer to go to the shop so that they can take my measurements, however on the one occasion that I provided my
measurements online I was lucky enough to be dealing with someone who knew his trade who rang me back and queried one of the measurements and saved any problems further down the line. So if ordering on line the first criteria should be dealing with a well respected kilt maker or company, the second most important thing is to check and double check your sizes.

[Father Bill]

I prefer to have the measurements taken by the one who will wield the scissors and put the needle through the cloth.

[Katia]

To be honest, I hope that everyone I make a kilt for scrutinizes it and lets me know immediately if there's something they're not happy with. I'm human, and if I've made a mistake, I want to know about it so that I can fix it, even if I have to buy another piece of tartan and sew another kilt to make it right. The other reason I want people to let me know if they spot something they don't like is that most people don't really understand how a proper kilt is made, and it would hurt me deeply if someone said negative things about my kiltmaking that are, in fact, the marks of a well-made kilt. If they talk with me about it, I can educate them. If they don't, I can't.

I've had people complain about the little bit of tapered hem behind the deep pleat on the apron edge and the tapered hem on the underapron edge, and they think I've blundered and needed to compensate. Not true (see http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...de-kilt-40778/). I made a kilt many years ago for a customer who was unhappy that all of the pleats weren't exactly the same depth, and he wondered if I had skimped on tartan. Not true (see http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...insides-76521/). And quite recently, I had a customer who thought I had made a mistake because the underapron edge next to the pleats wasn't folded at exactly the same place in the tartan as the apron edge next to the pleats. Perfectly understandable question to ask, but I would have hated to have him think that I'd blundered. Because of the way a kilt is laid out, these never match (and it doesn't matter anyway, because no one ever sees the underapron anyway when the kilt is being worn).

That's kind of what I meant, though. If I bought a kilt from you, I would trust that I don't need to scrutinize it. I would never notice a tapered hem behind the deep pleat or measure the pleat depth because I wouldn't be "looking under the hood" to check if you did it correctly in the first place... I would trust that you had.