musings on kilts, hose, String, magic and my brain

[Alan H]

DRAT, I wanted to put this in "off topic"...can a mod move it?

[Panache]

DRAT, I wanted to put this in "off topic"...can a mod move it?

A Mod could.

At my dance class the people are always amazed that everything I wear has a story:

"Oh yes I am very fond of this sporran, it is my favorite. It was made by this splendid gent in Norway ..."

"This pin? It was made in Holland by Robin Lous, a great guy..."

"This is the X Marks the Scot tartan, a good friend made this after carefully studying a genuine military kilt with military box pleats..."

"...actually it's a Pictish Boar. Tom hand carves the designs on all his sporrans..."

"...I love this kilt, it was made by Matt Newsome, the currator of the Scottish Tartans Museum, great guy..."

"It is a handsome buckle, I agree. My friend Michael Steinrok couldn't believe the Western belt buckle I was wearing with my kilt and gave it to me. He even pointed out where to get the right belt and helped me set the thing up..."

"...not a Utilikilt! An X Kilt, designed and made by it's creator my friend Alan..."

"...no this is made in the United States out of washable polyviscose a couple of doors down from where they filmed "The Blob" you should check out Rocky and Kelly's site..."

"This is from a crazy/wonderful ex marine up in Canada, Steve Ashton, kiltmaker and coffee addict extraordinaire..."

" It's a modern take on the whole "Jacobite Shirt" design. This shirt was handmade in Minnosota by this fellow Kevin Kinney at Empire Canvas Works..."

"My friend Jon owns a shop called Highland Warmth, this buckle and kilt pin is from him..."

"Thank you, actually it's a variant on the Lamont tartan, this very nice guy named Jerry runs a little online shop called Stillwater Kilts and this is one of his..."

"I call him "Rocky", believe it or not the same fellow that made my Military Box Pleat kilt made this full mask sporran. Can you believe it? "

"Thank you, it is a special kilt pin designed and made for the members of X Marks the Scot


I wear kilts at least 4 days out of the week, and most of the time I feel a personal connection with at least one item I am wearing.

It's a nice feeling

Cheers

Jamie

[The Wizard of BC]

Alan, From what I have read from you, you would make a great Professional Kiltmaker. The personal touch is what keeps me doing this. I get to meet the wonderful folks who end up wearing my work. I have met many of you and feel a real bond.

Sure, I could go wholesale as others have, I could farm out the actual work and just sell them. But that would take away the experience of actually handing over a kilt or a shirt that now has a story. I can tell my customers exactly where the flaw is, where the little blood spot used to be.

Every time the customer wears what I have made they can re-tell those stories. And when they stop back into the shop their experiences in their kilt can come back to me in a growing tale of the life of a kilt that started out as nothing but a piece of ordinary fabric from some place we have never been.

This is also why I know all my suppliers personally. David and his sporrans, Steve at Oconee, Henry and his First Peoples silver pins. All these people and their products started a raw materials and have become the start of fantastic stories.

[Tartan Hiker]

I'm hearin' ya, Alan.

I wans't on the forum for more than a week or two when I mentioned that I didn't have a proper kilt pin. A member sent me one of his that he no longer used as a gift. It is amazing how "real" this virtual commuinty actually is.