Kiltmakers get my respect........

[Blu (Ontario)]

While considering kilt prices on the internet recently, I had to raise an eyebrow while looking at this website.

http://www.whitethistle.net/

The kilts sold here look high quality. Indeed, the descriptions and price lists are equally impressive. A product description goes something like this:

"10,000 PERMANENT STITCHES, 60 HOURS TO SEW, AVERAGE PLEATS 27-30".

The price calculated as follows:

" 40.00 BPS x $1.60 exchange rate = $64.00 x 28.4% duty x 8 yards = $657.408 ~ $675.40 + $64.00 SHI/S = 721.40 cost of tartan and to that $350.00 kilt labor = $1071.40 + $35.00 SHI/US =$1106.40 Price of your kilt in this order."

My hat goes off to anyone who can create these wonderful garments. And personally, I view good kiltmakers as designers, technicians, craftspeople, and artisans and I don't begrudge for a single moment the cost of a hand made kilt. The puzzling question in my mind is this. Considering the example kilt stated above, the labor cost divided by the number of hours stated means that the kiltmakers get $5.83 / hour for their trouble! Am I missing something here? Is this typical in the industry? If this is true, then kiltmaking, at even double that rate, is a true labor of love. I say "Bravo" to kiltamkers for their skill and their tenacity.

[phil h]

solid tartan?
oxy moron!

(yes I know it's all one word)

[GMan]

Blu,

I too admire anyone who can make these great and majestic garments, it sometimes humbles me of their beauty (the kilts not the kiltmakers per se ).

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Er... something is fishy here.

While I agree that making a quality kilt takes a trememdous amount of skill and many hours of labor, I have never had a kilt maker even suggest to me that it takes 60 hours of labor to make one (I think even 20 might be stretching it), and if someone is charging you over a thousand US dollars for a single kilt, be advised to look elsewhere.

The most expensive kilt we sell at the Scottish Tartans Museum gift shop is just over $600 and this is a kilt made from Lochcarron's single width Strome cloth (16 oz). Your average medium weight kilt would cost less than $500.

For a thousand dollars you can just about put together a complete formal dress outfit.

I might have to go check out that site and see what's up....

Aye,
Matt

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Ok, i just looked at their site, and the only kilt I saw selling for over a grand was their 10 yard kilt from The House of Edgar's Old and Rare range of tartans (which is more expensive cloth). Still a bit pricey, if you ask me, but not as unreasonable.

Their medieum weight, 8 yard kilts are more in the $528 to $696 range. Again, still pricey, but not as bad as I first thought.

I still think they are trying to make the whole kilt makeing process a bit more complicated sounding than it really is. I mean, they say that they make the kilt from 12 to 16 unique measurements. I've never taken more than three measurements off of a man for a kilt (waist, seat, and length) and all the kilts fit just fine.

Matt

[bubba]

I can't even imagine what they'd need that many different measurements for or where they'd need to take them for making a kilt.

[Buddha]

solid tartan?
oxy moron!

(yes I know it's all one word)

Ive seen it, Rocky's got a couple of samples that are pretty neat (but I wouldnt want it as the kilt)

[Blu (Ontario)]

Ok, i just looked at their site, ....Their medieum weight, 8 yard kilts are more in the $528 to $696 range. Again, still pricey, but not as bad as I first thought.

I still think they are trying to make the whole kilt makeing process a bit more complicated sounding than it really is.... Matt

I suspect that you may be right. If we assume that their labor cost is the same for all types of tartans, and that the actual build time is 20 hours, that gives the kiltakers an average of $17.50 / hour for their trouble. That sounds a bit more realistic in terms of viability. At first glance it looked to me as though these highly skilled people were being regarded as third world garment workers!

[Jimmy Carbomb]

They're obviously attempting to condone their pricing with "pity tactics". Please!

Kilt making is not "rocket surgery". Getting a casual kicked-out can be done by anyone with minimal sewing machine abilities.

Making an authentic traditional IS a whole different animal... but it's not some grand puzzle. A LOAD of instruction, practice and patience will do the trick. Hand-sewn kilts are quite difficult to do correctly, but once you're taught the correct way, it's still not going to take more than about 16-18 hours of actual work time.

[Magnus Sporrano]

Ive seen it, Rocky's got a couple of samples that are pretty neat (but I wouldnt want it as the kilt)

I saw some of the tartans in his new swatchbooks that I think you're talking about... tartans that are all black and the only thing that seems to make them tartan is the texture of the fabric. He already gave me dirty looks when I told him my next one would be Black Watch, but I think he'd take me out back and shoot me if I wanted one of those solid tartans.