traditional vs. classic

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Well since most of us depend on companies selling these wares and not professional tailors making our clothes to our specifications--we end up with what's available. And until there is a strong demand for otherwise, we won't see it much in catalogs.

Fifty years ago or so most companies offered a nearly bewildering array of highland attire. I've a Frasier Ross catalog on my desk and it shows five different styles of evening wear jacket-- today you are lucky to find a shop offering much more than a Prince Charlie coatee. The same catalogue offers fourteen different sporrans, seven of which are civilian horsehair sporrans. In addition to a wide variety of self-coloured hose (none of which were white, off-white, ecru, or creme) they offered their customers five different styles of "dress hose" ranging from a simple "check top hose" to full tartan as well as diced hose.

So what happened? Why don't stores offer the selection they once did?

Probably because most of their customers are too cheap to buy quality products. The few Highland outfitters that do offer a good selection-- stores like Kinloch Anderson, or MacKenzie Frain-- survive only because discerning customers seek them out. The few firms that continue to offer bespoke tailoring-- such as Stewart Christie-- offer their services at prices that would give the average "Mr. Geoffrey" customer a nose bleed, and would produce cardiac arrest in one of the Gold Brothers shops.

The bottom line, in my estimation, is that frankly, my dear, most folks don't give a damn about how they look, and are totally focused on price. It really comes down to the polar opposites of PRIDE and SHAME:

PRIDE = Perfect Results In Dressing Elegantly

while

SHAME = Sustained Half Arsed Minimal Efforts.