Checkered Kilt Hose Etiquette?

[Pleater]

So Sam Vimes' thoughts on boots are not current on the forum?

Samuel Vimes is the character on Discworld (a literary creation of Terry Pratchett) in charge of the city of Ankh Morpork Night Watch.

He points out that when a poor man needs boots he buys a pair for ten dollars, which begin to let in the water after a few months. In a year they are worn out and he has to buy another pair for another ten dollars.

When a rich man needs boots he buys a pair for fifty dollars which keep out the water and last a long time.

So, ten years down the line, the poor man has spent twice as much as the rich man on boots, and he still has wet feet.

I still have socks made from the yarn I knitted up when I was a teenager - I have learned to make better socks and so remade the old yarn into new socks, but the yarn had Nylon, was expensive by the standards of the time, but it is still good fourty years later.

[fluter]

I still have socks made from the yarn I knitted up when I was a teenager - ... the yarn had Nylon, was expensive by the standards of the time, but it is still good fourty years later.

Brava, pleater! now, that's frugal.

I'm dusting off my needles and thinking about some garter ties & finishing a scarf that's been languishing in my closet. Then I want to learn (cue ominous music) socks.

But I may try to commission some tartan hose from one of the young folks who knit; thus practicing economy and supporting education, which I'd also consider frugal.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I think all too often we are tempted to confuse "frugal" with "cheap." Frugality is really about spending your money wisely. My Webster's Collegiate defines frugal as "characterized by reflecting economy in the expenditure of resources." The definition of economy Webster's gives that seems most fitting here is "efficient use of material resources." In other words, it is about being efficient. Spending $60 on a cheap pair of Argyle hose that you are going to be unhappy with, or that will wear out with only a few wearings, may indeed by "cheap" but it is not frugal -- it is not an efficient expenditure of your resources, in other words. Whereas spending $150 or $200 on a good quality product that may indeed last your lifetime if cared for, is a much more frugal expenditure.

I recently came across this quote attributed to American president William McKinley, which I am considering framing and hanging in our gift shop!
“I do not prize the word 'cheap.' It is not a badge of honor. It is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country.”

[Daaaaang]

I recently came across this quote attributed to American president William McKinley, which I am considering framing and hanging in our gift shop!
“I do not prize the word 'cheap.' It is not a badge of honor. It is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country.”

I hope customers don't take it the wrong way, all with it hanging in a store

[Clockwork John]

[QUOTE=Pleater;464818]So Sam Vimes' thoughts on boots are not current on the forum?

Samuel Vimes is the character on Discworld (a literary creation of Terry Pratchett) in charge of the city of Ankh Morpork Night Watch.

He points out that when a poor man needs boots he buys a pair for ten dollars, which begin to let in the water after a few months. In a year they are worn out and he has to buy another pair for another ten dollars.

When a rich man needs boots he buys a pair for fifty dollars which keep out the water and last a long time.

So, ten years down the line, the poor man has spent twice as much as the rich man on boots, and he still has wet feet.
QUOTE]

I know this thread is about hose, but since someone brough it up...

Here are my thoughts on boots and frugality:

I've been through several pairs of cheap boots. They might last a year if I go easy on them. But most people, myself included, don't wear boots to go easy on them.

Roughly eight years ago, I was given a pair of steel-toed Doc Martens. With a price tag of $130 retail, they were far outside of my price range at the time, and truth be told, they still are.

After eight years of daily wear, I have finally worn them into the ground. The soles are worn slick and no longer provide any traction on any surface, and the leather has finally given out and cracked.

I'm thinking that eight years of wear warrants the $130 investment for another pair. So I started myself a boot fund. I took an empty jar and started tossing all my change in it, plus a few dollars here and there as I could afford it. I had about $50 saved up, with the promise of a retroactive raise at work, so I started shopping for boots.

I found DMs online (not the exact style I wanted but close enough) for $79 shipped. I was all set to buy myself a pair when my wife let it slip that I was getting a pair for Christmas that she had purchased at that incredibly low price.

So now I'm looking at (hopefully) another eight years of boot wear, at a cost of roughly half of retail.

I'd say that hunting for a quality product at an affordable price is pretty darn frugal. Maybe not cheap, but definitely prudent,wise, and frugal.

And that $50 in a jar has been relabeled "kilt fund."

[Jack Daw]

I forgot that I have visual aids. My red-and-off white castellated are featured to the far left. I was a judge at the Houston Highland Games' shortbread contest.