What would you say is the best reasonably reputable priced kilt maker in the UK?

[Troglodyte]

...there are some with very fanciful notions about Scottish attire and Scottish history too! But -------BUT------there is no denying the interest in kilt attire in all its forms from your countrymen and others world wide on this website and some are just interested in the kilt and are not too bothered about Scotland at all.

Spot on here, Jock.

Highland dress, with all the how, why and when it is worn in its homeland seems to be an unitelligble concept to some, it would seem.

And 'kilt Kulture' has become little more than fancy-dress for many, and the likes of Highland Games are regarded as costume events to show off the latest acquisitions.

Personally, I can make no claims to being an expert on Highland dress (and nor would I anyway) but it's both amusing and exacerbating to be told we do it 'wrong' here in Scotland. Like many most people, I grew up with the kilt from a young age, and was guided in style, tradition and convention by older generations and peers whose experience and style I respected - as with other forms of clothing.

To us, it's not dressing-up costume, but a form of clothing that we wear naturally in various ways according to circumstances. Expectations there may be, but rules there are none, I woud say.

I recently had the delighful experience of going to see a certain gentleman of a paticular clan (in which he ranks near the top, and is known by the name of his estate) whose base is in Newtonmore (any guesses who that might be?) and found him going about his usual business dressed in a faded Rugby jersey from his youth, a dreadfully mis-shapen kilt with no sporran, and plastic Croc shoes.

What he was doing made his attire clearly logical to me, and no surprise, but I have wondered since what effect his outfit would have had on certain overseas visitors.

To me, it was just another form of 'traditional' Highland dress - the kilt being worn in its historic homeland in its simplest way for everyday chores, and the other garments met immediate practical need. But the style is a far cry from the 1930s catalogue ideal that seems to have become the benchmark look.

He worried me just the same - I felt he was taking risks by not wearing a protective vet-style apron.