It Has Arrived.

[Dreadbelly]

First off... The box it came in was heavy. It was a good indicator of what was inside.

The kilt it self is AMAZING. The pleats are knife edged. The lining is interesting, my USAK doesn't have a lining. The pleats are cunningly designed to taper out and spread when they are over your hips. It only comes in a waist size, and mine was 46. My hips are a bit wider, at least 2 inches. I am not sure if it's just me, or how the kilt was designed, but, the hips spread out with out bunching or pulling or sitting funny. I am really not sure if it was intentional or by design, but, I suspect design.

The kilt it self is heavy. It's not 22 ounce tank heavy, but it's a heck of a lot heavier than my USAK philabeg. Fabric is very thick... But, it's also very soft and supple. It's very different from PV. I like it. It's not itchy at all, and it breaths rather well.

My USAK swishes a bit when I walk. The Stillwater swooshes. It rocks back and forth like a church bell. The pleats have to be at least an inch or two deep. The pleats are utterly amazing. Knife edged, sewn down, I mean SEWN down. These pleats don't wander much. I almost want to say that the Stillwater is somewhat tanky. I have had the experience of getting up close and personal with a few real tanks now. And while the Stillwater is not perfected perfection... I will say it is an economical tank. The care and the crafting that has gone into the construction is obvious. It's a long long way from being a hand sewn custom made creation, but, considering the price... Well Hell... I don't see how they could have made this and sold it for the price that is offered. It's that damn good. The lining is thick and padded. As an aside, this kilt acts like a back brace for me. It's very stiff and solid, and forces my spine to straighten out a bit. As I sit here typing, I am wearing it, and my back feels noticeably better as it's getting support. A pair of pants never did that for me. The Stillwater sits well, better than my philabeg. There is an actual drop and a rise constructed into this kilt, so everything above the hips flexes when you sit down, and everything below the hips draps better, so when you sit it's not all bunched up and tight. The rise comes all the way up to my rib cage. Slightly past my belly button. That said, the standard 24 inch length in total comes down exactly to half way down my knee cap. If I wore it any lower, the kilt would drop down to my shins, and then it bunches and sits funny, because the place where the rise and the drop meets isn't on the hips. When I put it on, I had to wiggle it up and down a time or two, I shook my hips, and it settled on it's own to right where it was meant to be. Which is amazing. My philabeg I am always having to pull back up. The curve of my gut is always making the front of the kilt sag way down, and the rear of the kilt always bunches up on top of my ****. The Stillwater refuses to budge. Once it hits where it was meant to sit, and you have your buckles firmly fastened, for me, at least, so far, it's not moving. When I sit, it's almost like the kilt is hinged. I am not sure how to explain it or put it into words as I have never experienced this before.

The fabric really is amazing. I must add more on this subject. I have a couple of acrylic bits of clothing that I have never liked. It's always been sort of rough, scratchy, and well, I have never cared for it much so I had a lot of reservations getting a Stillwater as I knew they were acrylic. This fabric on this garmet when you run your hand over it is soft, somewhat fuzzy feeling. Almost velvety. But not quite. When it gets washed, I am sure it will change the texture a bit... For good or ill remains to be seen. But this does not feel like any other acrylic I have ever owned.

For the cost at 99 bucks, the new Stillwater Heavy Weight Kilts are impossible to beat. I can't find any major complaints. To be honest, I wanted to, I guess, to satisfy my own personal beef with purchasing garmets from the Asian landmass. In all honesty, I came into this hoping to find something to gripe about. Perhaps bemoan how cheap and poor it was compaired to American, Canadian, or Scottish kilts. I, well, I can't do that. And damnit, I have to say, this sort of garmet can not be produced under sweat shop conditions. There is entirely to much care, attention to detail, and way to much accuracy in it's construction. Whoever made this knew what they were doing, and cared enough about their job to do it right, which means that somehow, they were getting at least a decent or fair wage out of the deal, which seems bloody hard to believe at the kilt's price of 99 bucks.

One last word for now. And it's not a complaint, but an observation. I have seen the Blackwatch tartan up close and personal now a few times, and the Stillwater Blackwatch tartan looks a good bit darker than the ones I had seen. The green is a very very dark green, the blue is almost midnight blue, and by damn, this is one dark kilt. Once again, it's not a complaint, perhaps they expect it to fade a bit in the wash or something, but it is a much darker Blackwatch than I am used to seeing. But I like it.

[cavscout]

Thanks for the 411 Dread. I'll be watching to see how it turns out after a washing.

[Raphael]

There is nothing wrong to buy a kilt from a Commonwealth country.

[Miah]

Humm if I find myself in need of another kilt I may just have to look at this option. Thanks for the review. Now if they could only get prices down to the same as a pair of jeans kilts would be that much cooler.

[GMan]

CONGRATULATIONS Glad to hear that you got it, and so quickly at that.

What a great review, and am looking forward to hearing how things go with wearing it about. Like Miah has said maybe have to realign my wish list

[Dreadbelly]

Just get one. At 99 bucks, you can't loose. It's win win.

If we all pile in and buy one, and Stillwater sees it's a smashing sucess, there could be more tartan selections later as demand rises. X-Marks members, we must inflate the demand.

The moment there is another tartan available, I plan to buy a second. Maybe a third.

[Magnus Sporrano]

Great review, but I don't know that I could buy one of those.

The kiltmakers that take the time to hang out on Xmarks and contribute to our community do charge more, yes. But I want to see them succeed and continue to work full-time making kilts.

I think if I did let my curiosity win and buy one of these, I'd have to simultaneously order a USA Kilts Traditional or a Pittburgh Kilt to balance my karma back out.

[Big Dave]

That's awesome you got your kilt so fast, and it seems well worth it. With how much you boast about them I might look into getting a kilt from them next.

[Magnus Sporrano]

Hahahaha looks like I don't have to worry about balancing my karma.

Stillwater only makes a narrow range of sizes (and I am not anywhere near their range) and only one length. Thank the maker we have plenty of good people in North America that will make a kilt in any size.

[cavscout]

I inquired about when they may start making the heavy kilt in another tarten, specifically the Stewart Black and they said there are no plans to provide it in that tarten. Too bad for now.