Why does a kilt cost what it does? (re-hash for new folks)

[Colonel MacNeal]

It is ironic that Scots have a reputation for frugality, and good kilts are so costly.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

It is ironic that Scots have a reputation for frugality, and good kilts are so costly.

Remember that "frugality" does not mean "cheap." It simply means spending your money wisely, which in many cases actually means paying more for a higher quality item that will last longer (and therefore be less expensive in the long run) than a cheaper, lower quality alternative.

[piperdbh]

I wrote a reply to this thread this afternoon, but accidentally deleted it, so I'll give it another try.

I was comparing the price of a kilt to the price of blue jeans. If a man wore the same blue jeans every day, they'd soon wear down to shreds and buttons, (which is the way high school kids like them these days, by the way.) If blue jeans could be bought for $33.33 each (just for the sake of easy math), and a man bought one pair of jeans per year, then in 3 years he'd have spent $100, in 12 years, $400, and all he'd have at the end of those 12 years would be one pair of wearable jeans. Let's say he kept this up for 50 years. He'd have spent $1,666.50, and still have one pair of blue jeans. In my case, I plan to live to 112, which is 80 more years. I'll have spent $2,666.40, and still wind up with one pair of wearable blue jeans. If I spend the same money, I can buy 6 kilts, have a little $ left over, and be able to pass those kilts down to the 6 children my wife once told me she wanted to have. (She's since changed her mind.)
In short, as has been posted in other threads, the upfront cost of a kilt should be seen as an investment. Yes, it's quite a bit for some of us to shell out all at once, but a good kilt is something that will last a lifetime, and probably beyond, unlike other things (like cars and electronics) that we spend big money on, knowing full well that they will break down or become obsolete in just a few years.