Looking for some advice

[Bluenote07]

I am a 19 year old bagpiper in Western New York, and i've been playing for about 7 years now. Until about a year ago I was a member of a pipe band, and so was lucky enough to be equipped with a kilt and various other pieces of equipment for as long as i was in the band. Well, now that I'm attending college I don't have to time (or a car) to make a long trip every week to pipe band practice, and so have taken leave from my good friends (and my free uniform!) in the band.

I still play pipes individually for funerals and other events, so I am in need of a good semi-formal get-up. I luckily have managed to buy a few items of my own over the years including a sporran, hose, badge, kilt pin, and sgian dubh.

My extremely supportive and generous parents knew that I needed to get a kilt of my own, and so as a surprise christmas gift last year bought me a beautiful kilt in our family tartan! I dearly appreciated this gift, but the problem is that they did not consult me beforehand, and ended up buying me a full-sized great kilt! While the kilt is a very attractive and authentic-looking one, I don't think it is very practical for the needs of a piper-for-hire. Most of the events I am asked to play for are fairly formal, and the great kilt has a very primitive/untamed casual kind of feeling to it, which seems kind of innapropriate for use in a funeral.

Right now I am in the process of shooping for more components for my outfit online, including an argyll jacket and vest, balmoral and ghillie brogues. I have saved a decent amount of money through a couple years of fairly severe frugality, and am prepared to start making purchases. I have a very important event to play for in less than a month's time, so I have a need for some speedy purchasing and delivery right now.

Now here's my quandry. If I buy all the equipment I need aside from a new kilt, I estimate that i will have about $100-$300 left over. Ideally, I would like to buy an 8-yard 13-16 ounce woolen traditional-style kilt in my own tartan(MacIntyre) to be the centerpiece of my wardrobe, but I know this would be very hard to accomplish (as far as I know) with my economic and time constraints.

The way I see it, I have 2 options:

1)Try to wear my full-sized Great Kilt in a way that would be appropriate for formal wear(along with the argyll coat and jacket, preferably). I would love to be able to do this, because I like the great kilt, and I already own it. So far though, I havn't been able to come up with a way to wear it that doesn't look very casual or sloppy. Also, I think it might be hard to wear a great kilt with an argyll jacket.

2)Buy a less expensive pre-made kilt, possibly in PV, but preferably still in wool. I just looked at the Stillwater Kilts website, and saw the heavy woolen Black Watch kilt that is available for what seems to me like a price that would fit into my budget. If I went for this option, it would probably only be temporary, because i'm unsure of the quality/appearance of this inexpensive kilt, and am not particularly fond of the Black Watch tartan (this might seem like a nitpicky and unreasonable reason, but as someone who is going to be wearing the kilt long-term, it's probably important to have a kilt that I feel comfortable in, and I place some value on having a kilt of my own clan's tartan.) If I choose this route, I will probably start saving up again to buy a high-quality kilt in my own tartan in the future. Because I need a kilt fast though, the short-term investment is appealing.

So that's my story. I am enjoying the process of selecting an outfit, but I am somewhat stressed by the approaching deadline. If anyone has advice to offer about wearing the great kilt as a formal garment with argyll, or has some input about the possibility of buying a cheaper kilt from someplace like Stillwater, or any other advice at all, I would be extremely grateful to you.

Kiltedly yours,
Scott Wright

[GMan]

WELCOME Scott,

I understand your quandry. As far as finding an inexpensive Kilt I would like to recommend Rocky and Kelly from USA Kilts. The Kilts are great and in PV for a decent price. If your butt-waste ration is fairly equal a Stillwater Kilt may be in your future.

I am sure some others will have some more advice at this time than I, as my mind just went blank.

Good Luck in your hunt!

[UmAnOnion]

First & foremost, welcome aboard!

You have found a home for any & all questions thta you might have kilt related & I am fairly certain that you will find what you seek herein (or some pretty good directions on how to get it)

If you take a tour of the older postings on the site you will find loads of places here where you can get kilts at moderate priced, from Ebay to rental shops selling off used kilts to refugees from the KAA (Kilt Adoption Agency) at decent prices.

Again welcome aboard & stay cool - Stay kilted

Colin

[possingk]

Welcome to our little part of the web, as a guy who grew up in Buffalo, it is nice to meet you.

I have been looking at ready made kilts from Heritage of Scotland http://www.heritageofscotland.com/ki...25,product.php for a while, my concern is that it says on the web site that they are 10 oz wool, you might want to e-mail them and find out more about them. They do say they are in stock and it looks as though the price is within your range.

I do agree with everyone about Rocky and Kelly at USA kilts as well. They are quite the kiltmakers and business.

Good luck in your search, and enjoy the Sabreś season, it looks like it is a good one.

[The Wizard of BC]

As the cost of a new kilt is dependant on the cost of the fabric, why not have your great kilt re-made into a formal one?

Any good kilt maker can do this for you. The labor costs would fit into your budget very well.

Contact Rocky and Kelly at USA Kilts (one of the sponsors of this forum) or Matt Newsome or Barb Tewksbury (also members of this forum) and ask their price to do the job.

[bubba]

I have a Stillwater Heavyweight and it's just great. If you need it fast and Jerry has your size in stock I recommend it. The Stillwater Standards aren't bad either, I have the Nightstalker, and I'm pleased with mine. You can save for your Clan tartan later and given you only have about a month I think you're real options are Stillwater or take your chances on ebay assuming you want at least a traditional appearance.

[Sherry]

Welcome to the forum, Scott.

My first thought, too, was to have the great kilt made up into a formal kilt. I don't know how it would work out with your time constraints, tho'. Otherwise, & pv can stand you in good stead until you get the modern, one way or another.

How sweet of your parents, but I wonder what they were thinking by getting you a great kilt, especially after your years in a pipe band. You didn't mention getting into reenacting to them, did you?

[auld argonian]

You can't beat the USA kilt PV for looking good and ease of maintenance. You might want to look at the selection and consider the semi-trad for your freelance piping activities. I assume that you are receiving some gratuities for your efforts and so have some income to not only defray the cost of a "work" kilt but you could declare that income and take a deduction for your gear...professional wardrobe...the IRS might be able to dicker with some deductions for professional wardrobe but I can't see them arguing with a kilt for a piper...seems like a very basic necessity, don't you agree? I mean who's going to believe a piper in a pair of Dockers? May seem like an unnecessary extravagance but you gotta spend money to make money.

Certainly there are several makers who do the PV kilt thing...I have a casual from USA Kilts and a semi-trad is next on my list. Just thinking of the professional musicians that I know and their tuxedo travails, I'd think that the PV would certainly fill the bill quite nicely.

Best

AA

[bubba]

The only reason I didn't suggest getting a PV semitrad from USAKilts is the timing. I'm not certain about the waiting time.

[Colin]

IRight now I am in the process of shooping for more components for my outfit online, including an argyll jacket and vest, balmoral and ghillie brogues. I have saved a decent amount of money through a couple years of fairly severe frugality, and am prepared to start making purchases. I have a very important event to play for in less than a month's time, so I have a need for some speedy purchasing and delivery right now.

Send David McSweeney and email at www.scottishkilts.net
They have a ton of great priced jackets, sporrans, ghillies, and 5 and 8 yard kilts in wool (and some PV). They have a really good deal on jacket/waistcoat combos, and their 8 yard standards (machine sewn) are roughly about $100 more than the 5 yard kilt. I have not been disappointed by their price, quality, service, or delivery time yet.

For an important event, go for the high end stuff now and add the cheaper alternatives later. This may be just be, but I can not see a Great kilt looking even remotely good with an Argyle.