Crackdown urged over kilt cheats

[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

[highlander_Daz]

I agree with this policy , I think theres a mix up here on the thread the clampdown is on products NOT made in Scotland but dishonestly claiming to be. Im sure Kiltmakers in the US and elsewhere are every bit as competant as here, but as long as the product states "made in the US" or wherever thats fine. a Kilt made superbly by and experienced kiltmaker in the states is every bit as good as one made here.
However many products are using misleading labels to "pass off" products as "made in Scotland" to trap the unwary, and once again its our old friends on the royal mile who will sell tourists ANYTHING and can I add that the people behind most of these tartan and Saltire festooned shops are NOT Scots.

I have some excelent bagpipe seasoning and is states "Made as Scotland" which when you look closely is actually made in Pakistan.

The issue I have with these Eastern made products is the exploitation of the people who make these and its firms like NIke and hilfigger etc that pay these people peanuts and rake in ££££££££s

Another example is call centres many banks have fired british workers and transferred call centres to the far east so if you ring your bank you get through to india, with all due respect to the people there many struggle to understand the wide range of Accents in the UK and one chap wanted to know if Inverness was near Cardiff? again all to save money.

Its a very deep subject, I want to see Scots firms and skills like Kiltmaking and bagpipemaking to thrive and for people to look to Scotland for these things , but taxation and "red tape" imposed by Westminster and not challanged by Holyrood crank up the overheads for many firms making labour intensive products like traditional kilts very expensive to manufacture in the UK.

[Mike n NC]

Its a very deep subject, I want to see Scots firms and skills like Kiltmaking and bagpipemaking to thrive and for people to look to Scotland for these things , but taxation and "red tape" imposed by Westminster and not challanged by Holyrood crank up the overheads for many firms making labour intensive products like traditional kilts very expensive to manufacture in the UK.

Daz that is pretty much the point of my cottage business comment. What with NAFTA and the like, favored status trade agreements with China, Japan and who knows where else, not to mention the taxation without representation going on over here...it is no wonder that business and jobs are leaving the country faster than we can count. Thus it becomes very important that people like Rocky, Alexis Malcolm or Kathy Lane here in the states, Bear, Steve and the guys in Canada keep the industry alive. They produce a quality product at a (very) reasonable price. :smile: It may well fall to people in Scotland to do the same
Do we still buy up the imports? Sure but, in my case at least, I try to spread my business around and leave the inexpensive inports for times I want to protect the good stuff.

Mike