Crackdown urged over kilt cheats

[MACKAY]

I was going to reply, but I outsource all my reply work to an off shore company in India, and I keep having problems with Quality Control. As soon as we get it fixed I'll be sure to post a reply.

Brian Mackay

[possingk]

I was going to reply, but I outsource all my reply work to an off shore company in India, and I keep having problems with Quality Control. As soon as we get it fixed I'll be sure to post a reply.

Brian Mackay

The worst part about your statement is that it is true for a lot of companies. It is also a major reason that I work for the commonwealth.

To be on topic though I think it is great that Scotland is doing this it gives the kilt makers pride to put that tag on, much like I am sure it gives the local kilt maker here the pride to put the made in the USA label on thier kilts.

The one thing I will say is that I don't own a traditional eight yard kilt, and most likely won't for a long time. I know when I bought my SWK that it wasn't made in Scotland, or the USA, but I wanted a kilt to get me started. Now I am not really happy that it was made off shore, but at the time it was what I could afford. I will probably get a few more SWK's, but my goal is to have as many american made kilts as I do SWK's

[Mike n NC]

To get back to the kilt line of this thread... I have to disagree with the thought that people buy what they can afford. Not true, if it were family sedans wouldn't have passed the 30K mark and the credit card industry would not be blooming.

People buy what they want as evidenced by some of our members, saving, working extra hours, doing whatever to buy that "tank". When told that I would have to pay two, three, four or even five hundred dollars I don't even bat an eye. It may take a few days, weeks or maybe months to get up the funds but if that is what it takes, so be it.

Even as a young sailor I paid for quality in clothing, having been taught that I would get my worth out of it. Now on $79 a month it is a bit of a stretch to buy a good 2 or 3 piece suit but I did it. I can only remember buying 2 suits in my life that cost less than $500 so why would I complain about that price for a kilt? Am I going to pay that for a kilt/jacket or other parts that I wear every day, day in and day out and that may be damaged or destroyed? No more than I would wear one of my custom tailored suits in place of jeans.

Bottom line is that people will buy what they want, when they want it. It is becoming more and more incumbent on the cottage buisness to keep prices down and that business here, what with the larger companies outsourcing as they are.

I'm going to buy what I want based on what I want it for but should I end up with a "made in Scotland" product that I find to be produced elsewhere, look out. I want the truth about what is in it and where it came from.

Parting shot. To the kilted Harley Davidson fanatics, I'm one too...love'em, how do you like your Japanese motorcycle? Made in Japan, about 90% of the parts, and assembled in America. Even the engines use workings made overseas.

Mike

[motorman4life]

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Try this link: http://www.jibjab.com/Movies/Home.aspx

[Raphael]

Although I have yet to have a kilt that was made in Scotland, but If I was to walk into a kilt shop in Scotland and order one, I will have no problem paying the price that ask For. I am paying for a genuine Kilt made by the people of Scotland. I am sure most of the tailors out there were trained from a very young age or at least went to school to learn the art in kilt making.

As Kilt makers, they are probably aimed to make the best kilt they could, because two things are on the line: the pride as kilt makers and also the national pride. To them, they are not making a simple clothing, but a piece of garment that symbolise thier country and their culture. They are also sewing a piece of Scotltish pride in them. They want the world to know that a Genuine Scottish kilt is second to none.

I am not going to trash the Pakistanni kilts. They have their place. But, the Parkistannis sew kilts up to make a living. They woulld careless about their nationalistic pride because they can probably get another job in another facotry making pleated skirt for NIKE or Tommy Hifilger.

This past Summer, I had a chance of seeing the kilts that Hamish brought over to Vancouver. Man, I was impressed. Since the Summer, I vowed to get me a TFCK Kilt in the future. THe pleatings were superb and the swing was just lovely. Obviously, the kilts were made by people with extensive experience in making them.

[GlassMan]

We have something of a similar problem in the stained glass industry.

It is no longer profitable for any company or individual to make tiffany style lamps in America. It's just impossible for us to make them inexpensive enough to compete with the cheap imports from China. And according to one trade group a major factory producing those knock-off, low-quality lamps is actually attached to a prison camp using prisoners as slave labor.

Just as bad are salesmen for certain plastic companies who go around selling plastic sheets to people and tell them that by sticking the sheets to the window that they'll have a stained glass window, or at least the look of a stained glass window. What they don't say is that color in the plastic fades in less than 10 years, it's almost impossible to apply without having bubbles underneath, and it will always look like cheap plastic glued to a plate glass window. Yet just last night I saw it at Home Depot being marketed as the perfect way for the average home buyer to put stained glass in their home.

Yet one more reason why I feel good about spending the money on a tank from Scotland as long as it's actually made by the skilled craftsmen in Scotland.

[Blu (Ontario)]

... I have to disagree with the thought that people buy what they can afford. Not true, if it were family sedans wouldn't have passed the 30K mark and the credit card industry would not be blooming....

What's $500, anyway? A seasoned cigarette smoker can easily spend $1000 to $1500 a year on tobacco. Booze, prepared foods, restaurant meals, ... expensive and quite optional. It's a matter of priority. If you want something badly enough, you'll find a way to make it happen.

[GlassMan]

Speaking of spending priorities, we had "Stewardship Sunday" a few weeks ago where the Chair of the Stewardship Committee gave a speech about how important it is to make an annual pledge to the church and to actually give real cash.

During his speech he said (and I'm doing my best to quote from memory):

There was a time when my wife and I spent more on vacations than we did on tithing to our Church. There was a time when my wife spent more on new clothes than we gave to the Church. There was a time when my wife and I spent more on alcohol than we gave to the church.

Long pregnant pause as he starred at the ceiling.

I really miss that time in our lives!

The entire congregation was in stitches. :grin:

[Riverkilt]

There's also the option of buying from a craftsman TRAINED in Scotland in the traditional way, with all the certifications of the craft, who orders up the fabric from Scottish mills, but sews the finished product in another country convenient to their countrymen.

I think I could lay out any of my hand sewn traditionals from Kathy Lare next to a hand sewn traditional sewn in Scotland and have her craftsmanship gain the approval of the most educated kiltmaking judge.

Ron

[Rob Wright]

There's also the option of buying from a craftsman TRAINED in Scotland in the traditional way, with all the certifications of the craft, who orders up the fabric from Scottish mills, but sews the finished product in another country convenient to their countrymen.

I think I could lay out any of my hand sewn traditionals from Kathy Lare next to a hand sewn traditional sewn in Scotland and have her craftsmanship gain the approval of the most educated kiltmaking judge.

Ron

I have two hand sewn tanks from Scotland and a hand sewn tank from Kathy Ron, Her work more is more than adequate

Rob