Dir. of Scottish Tartan Authority Criticizes Edinburgh Shops

[Monkey@Arms]

Tuesday, 6th February 2007
Scotland

Tue 6 Feb 2007

Royal Mile looks like bazaar - tartan chief

RUSSELL JACKSON

ONE of Scotland's most historic streets has been described as looking "like an Eastern bazaar" by the Scottish Tartan Authority, provoking a furious response from traders.

Shopkeepers on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh hit back at the comments by the authority's director, who claimed the famous thoroughfare was full of tartan tat.

Stores were accused of misleading tourists by selling acrylic kilts for £19.99. But traders insist they are filling a gap in the market, and deny their shops spoil the look of the World Heritage Site.

In the Tartan Herald newsletter Brian Wilton, director of the Scottish Tartan Authority, criticised retailers for passing off acrylic "skirts" as genuine kilts. He wrote: "You would imagine that of all the streets in Edinburgh - indeed, in Scotland - the Royal Mile would epitomise the quality ethos attached to almost everything Scottish.

"However, visitors will know that interspersed with these great Scottish icons are many stretches of pavement that look more like an Eastern bazaar than much-loved architectural and historical gems.

"Probably the most bloodcurdling example is the 'kilts' for as little as £19.99.

"Gullible tourists must rejoice when they see what a bargain they're getting. What we really object to is that these 'kilts' are being passed off as the genuine article. They're not made of wool, and some are not even made in Scotland."

But Shirley Johnson, of the Edinburgh Cashmere Store, insisted: "It's a complete exaggeration to say it resembles a bazaar. Obviously they've not done their homework."

Kafc Kash, who runs the Scotland Shop, also dismissed the criticism. He said: "It's completely unreasonable to say we are misleading people.

"We don't have anything for £19.99. We sell a very wide range of kilts, and the price will depend on the material.""

And Mitch Smith, manager of the Wee Gift Shop, insisted his £20 kilts filled a gap in the market and did not detract from the authentic article.

He said 75 per cent of them were sold to Scots, rather than international tourists. "It's a bit extreme to call it a bazaar," he said. "This is an alternative to a wool kilt, not a replacement."

But Graeme Muir, who runs the Tartan Gift Shop, one of the oldest kilt shops in the world, said cut-price acrylic kilts were hitting his business.

"Normally we'd sell 30 or 40 kilts in November or December, but this year we've sold three. That's because of the cheap fakes."

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=194602007

Best regards,

Jake

[SnakeEyes]

Interesting. I'm not sure I understand why he's so upset though.

[Tattoo Bradley]

Wow. Fightin' words eh?

[Retro Red]

Graeme of Arizona Kilts showed me this article last week except his print-out had a couple pics of the price tags. On these price tags they were not only using the old sales ploy of showing the "original" price & then the "marked down to" price to make you think you were getting some great bargain, but very deceptively the tag said, "Fashioned in Scotland". Notice, not "Made in Scotland", but "Fashioned in Scotland" - in other words, they're trying to deceive people into believing this is a kilt made in Scotland when in reality it most likely was made by some poorly paid woman or child in Pakistan. (Can you say sweat-shop?)

What a shame that these cheap knock-offs are hurting the Scottish kilt industry, as the last 2 paragraphs show, but that this would be taking place on Scotland's most prestigious boulevard, the Royal Mile, is tragic & a travesty!
.

[IEScotsman]

Interesting. I'm not sure I understand why he's so upset though.

If I had to guess, I would think he is upset because as the Director of the Scottish Tartan AUTHORITY, he takes a great deal of pride in the representation of the culture, history, heritage, and meaning that is a kilt. When he sees male "skirts" sold as kilts, he probably becomes very disappointed.

I can't wait to see this for myself when I get to Scotland.

[Frank McGrath]

Have you been around Capitol Hill in D.C, Now there is Bizarre Bazaar. Any where tourist money is spent, people will sell anything and everything. It really is sad. But, we can just chalk it up to human nature.

[Warlock]

Well you know what they say about opinions...

[SnakeEyes]

You know, I was going to start something here, but I've decided just to stay out of it.

[Presuming Ed]

... but that this would be taking place on Scotland's most prestigious boulevard, the Royal Mile, is tragic & a travesty!

Don't really think that the Royal Mile is "Scotland's most prestigious boulevard" by a long chalk; it's always had a significant number of shops selling tourist tat. The New Town is much nicer - George St has a much, much higher collection of upmarket shops.

[McClef]

Some of the criticisms are indeed justified.

Of course it's a free enterprise environment and it would be difficult to ban or close down such shops but their activities could be more regulated so there is at least no confusion as to what people are actually buying.

The label "Designed in Scotland" is misleading as if it's cheap it's unlikely to have been made in Scotland. If the Scottish Parliament passed a bill enforcing an honest description of origin then people would not be under the impression that an item was actually made in Scotland.

But it's very difficult to find genuine, original, made in Scotland kilts as an off the peg item. Tourists have a need for instant gratification and often don't want to be measured and then wait for one to be made and delivered weeks or months down the line. I believe that this is why the criticised shops do well and that it's not just an issue of price.

If the more reputable establishments carried a range of made in Scotland off the peg kilts offering some of the most popular tartans (which is what the "bazaars" do except usually not wool and not made in Scotland) I believe they would be able to fight back better.

Of course they would cost more, but the quality would still speak for itself and it would still be instant gratification which is what most tourists want. And non EU tourists could still reclaim the VAT.

One can only hope that these cheaper kilt introductions will inspire at least some to go for the real McCoy at some point, I know people who have done that.