Scotweb versus USAK

[fluter]

My USA Kilts semi-trads have been my most-worn kilts. I have a 5 yard wool on my wish list, but have not seen one up close. The top stitching on the semitrad is not too obtrusive. I expect that my friends who sew would notice it, and most others would not.
USAKwall1.jpg

I just lucked into a Scotweb casual on clearance: very nice kilt, in 16-oz Isle of Skye. I could not say whether it's hand-sewn or machine-sewn from the bottom.
Scotweb-Casual1.jpg

These are all similar in construction. The pleats have not been cut out as they would in an 8 yard, so there is less need for structural reinforcement. There's no stabilizer or hair canvas.

If I were building one, I might add the stabilizer: that's a piece of broadcloth that structurally links the waist buckles to keep stress off the pleat seams. Here, less weight of fabric means there's less need for that reinforcement. My USAK semi-trads have been going strong for 13+ years without it.

[KennethSime]

I haven't yet ordered a kilt from Scotweb/Clan, but I have ordered a few other items and have been quite happy with them. I think that they don't actually make any of their own stuff, they're just a dealer. I think the folks they outsource most of their kilts to are called Balmoral, thus the "Balmoral 8-Yard Kilt."

I have a 5-yard from USA Kilts, and it's pretty darn great for casual wear. 16oz cloth from Lochcarron, too. I don't think I'd wear it with a P.C. or anything, but it's great with a casual jacket and boots. Looks the part, but doesn't have the swish of the 8-yards.

A few other folks in the Kilts & Culture group have been quite pleased with their kilts from Clan. Unless you're buying the 5-yard specifically to have a lighter-weight kilt, I'd go for the 8-yard from Clan. At that price, it will be machine sewn, rather than hand sewn, and top-stitched, but then the same is true for the USAK 5-Yard.

Not a bad choice either way, but I think you'll get more for your money through Clan.

[OC Richard]

USA Kilts does have a hand-sewn model with pleats sewn from the reverse, but it's only available on their 8-yard premier kilts. All others, I believe, are top-stitched.

Thanks good to know!

The sewn on the reverse, then flipped pleats look very much like the hand-sewn pleats on a traditionally made kilt.

You have to get really close to tell the difference.

The topstitched pleats not so much, you can see the "beads" of cloth. But of course if you're out wearing your kilt somewhere nobody is going to get close enough to notice.

The main thing to me is that a kilt that doesn't have the pleats cut out is bulky around the back, and of course heavier overall.

[Bob Batty]

I think that it might be worth mentioning that, of the four casual kilts I have purchased from Scotweb, three of them are reverse stitched (the two PV and the wool one) but the denim kilt is top stitched.

Bob

[HuDonald]

I have a bunch of kilts from USA Kilts and none from ScotWeb. But of the top-stitched models from USA Kilts, they use color-matched threads, so they’re only visible upon closer inspection, and really those “in-the-know” would look for it.

Honestly, no one has ever been close enough to pay that much attention to see/notice, and I’ve never had one comment about stitching on my kilt. This includes my kilt-wearing friends.

In normal wear and use, I doubt anyone would see the difference. That is unless your everyday is hanging out with seamstress and/or kilt fanatics who also care about kilt-specific construction.

[Riverkilt]

Another one who's never ordered from Scotweb....

I didn't order from USA Kilts for at least a year...thinking the hype about them was too good to be true. But I finally risked ordering a USA Kilt.

Today I've I've owned 31 USA Kilts. 16 Casuals, 13 Semi-Traditionas, and 2 five yard wool.

You can't lose if you try USA Kilts.

[Steve Ashton]

Another factor to consider is -

Do you want to know who made your kilt?

When you say Lochcarron and Marton Mills you are talking about the weaving mill that wove the fabric.

ScotWeb, as far as I know, and how it was when I visited them, do not make anything themselves. They subcontract kilt making so you do not know who actually pushed a needle through the fabric. This is one of the reasons that someone may get a very different product than someone else.

And you may have noticed that ScotWeb is no longer an advertiser here.

[Stan]

I have a number of kilts from Scotweb. 5 yard as well as 7, and 8 yard. ALL great kilts. When I first started killing (12 years ago) my research showed that MOST (all) kilt makers in the UK use fabrics from a fairly small number of Mills.

I have a great respect for USA kilts, but haven't purchased any kilts from them.

With 14 wool kilts in my closet, AND knowing that most kilt makers buy fabric from the same mills, between the two you've listed, I'm in favor of pricing, and Scotweb.