Tartan tat kings go Scottish

[Nanook]

The Gold bros/Singh are not SCOTS they are British Asians to be precise, which isnt and should not be a factor in this discussion,

They live in Scotland and have, to my knowledge, British citizenship. They have been doing business and living in Scotland since at least the 1970s (when they had a market stall in East Lothian). Sir Montague Burton (owner of what used to be the biggest clothing factory in the world in East Leeds) was born in Lithuania as Moshe Osinsky. He came alone at the age of 15 to Britain. You might not consider Burton "English" but as a British Jew he provided no less than 10,000 jobs. When he died in 1952 25% of all British men were wearing Burton clothing--- the quintessence of the British look.

the factors being

the quality of the materials used.
the quality of craftsmanship.
if any child labour/ exploited workers were invloved in the manufacture.

That was Burton's model. Its not anymore what the mass market wants. Marks & Spencer used to be about quality and British tailoring and refusing to shift to global production almost killed them. M&S is "not very price competitive" was the cry of analysts. The response to try to get out of their slump? Fire 1,000 employees and "buy products more cheaply".

"Buy products more cheaply", be snazzier and more aggressive is the model of H&M, Inditex-Gruppe (Zara Massimo-Duti), Next, etc.

Its become the model of most of the designer labels including most British luxury brands. Where do you think, for example, most of Burberry's production now is? How about all the tweed jackets in British shops? Where do you think nearly all the sports and leisure clothing with American, British and German brands are made? How about the shoes on most people's feet.. The model is to use cheap easily exploited and unprotected workforce (near slave, child or whatever via subcontractors as long as one does not get caught with some bad PR), export environmental problems (less regulation means lower standards and lower costs), save on tax (move around the nationality of the company via holdings) and while one is at it, see if one can get some national transfer payments to cover the costs of shifting production around. "Capital knows no nationality. It knows only profit.". Profit means in a global textile market with strong price pressures to be a vagabond always looking for the cheapest source of production. How often do I read someone's whining "why does blah blah cost so much when I can go to Wally World and get Blah Blah Blah"....

A friend of mine had a knitwear factory and one of his long time customers (one of the largest dept store chains) showed him a pullover from China. The buyer said they can get them for $7 USD a piece. If he can make them for $7 USD they'd purchase the lot from him. The same story from most of his customers. His knitwear factory is since closed and those $7 USD pullovers the chain sells in nationally advertised sales for $40 USD ($80 USD, regular price). Many of the few European knitwear companies that have survived have since morphed into textile trading with their production in China (where a large part is, in turn, siphoned off into a gray market sold as "counterfeit").

There is a market for "economy" kilts, Im assured Stillwater and sport kilts are excelent kilts for the money, are transparent about the place of manufacture and dont pretend to be something they are not. Unlike our friends on the royal mile.

Sure no child or exploited workers? Do they really tell you the true maker and what subcontractors were involved in the process? The companies you mention sell "kilts" imported from the Sub-Continent like the Gold Bros.. Only the Gold Bros also sell good kilts. The customer can see for themselves the difference and choose..! If they are good salesmen then many a customer that has gone into one of the shops looking for a 39 GBP kilt went out with an order for "the real thing" (the Gold Bros employ and work with some talented kilt makers and purchase not insignificant amounts of cloth from the top Scottish mills).

Id be interested to know if there are similar "chancers" in the US or Australia cashing in on native american or aboriginal cultures producing similar "tat"

You bet!

[robert_law]

not every one can aford to pay £300+ for a kilt , I now have 5 casual kilts my most recent was the lidl one which is the best quality , I do not have a problem with it being made in pakistan ( which is part of the commonwealth ) one of the things I like about the casual kilts is you do not need to put it in to the dry cleaners saving money and time , I also find light waight kilts are more coumfertibile to wear than the heavy millitery types.

in stead of complaining about the gold brouthers these kilt makers should produce there own casual kilts made in scotland or shut up ! , the first kilt I got was an economy kilt from hector russell this cost about £120 , but I prefer soume of the more recent casual kilts I got at a fraction of that cost , I can now choose different tartans for different ocasions instead of being stuck with just one exspensive kilt , and if anything hapens it easy replaced.

Robert

[Monkey@Arms]

These are the discounted, Scottish-made kilts mentioned:

http://www.scotlandshopdirect.com/pi...SD,product.php

They state 16 oz., 100% wool fabric. Hell, for $83.00 I'd buy one (if it was 2 inches shorter!)....

Ditto, but don't forget that it wouldn't be $83 after you add in the FedEx charges, import duties, and FedEx extra fees

Best regards,

Jake

[ForresterModern]

Ditto, but don't forget that it wouldn't be $83 after you add in the FedEx charges, import duties, and FedEx extra fees

Best regards,

Jake

Yup, even though shipping was free for my two kilts, because they shipped them fedex the customs tariffs got picked up and I ended up popping for another $60 per kilt in tariffs. And the customs bill from fedex came nearly a month after I got the kilts. Ouch.

[Larry124]

Ditto, but don't forget that it wouldn't be $83 after you add in the FedEx charges, import duties, and FedEx extra fees
Best regards,
Jake

The Casual kilt I received from them was sent Royal Mail and had no additional charges. Is it different with wool?

[Monkey@Arms]

The Casual kilt I received from them was sent Royal Mail and had no additional charges. Is it different with wool?

The big difference, as I understand it, is that the post office isn't as concerned about collecting duties. (Its a profit center for FedEx.) When I followed the link and looked at the shipping options I only saw FedEx offered. Your mileage may vary.

Best regards,

Jake

[RockyR]

I love how they imply that other firms are ripping people off and that they buy their product from the same sources that local kiltmakers send their kilts out to.

These guys are incredible. I am sure many people that have studied kiltmaking and put hours of perfectionism and attention to detail into their kilts loved this comment from someone that imports their kilts

That line ("kiltmakers have had it too good for too long") was meant as a DELIBERATE jab at high end kiltmakers in Scotland who are complaining about the GB. Their way of fighting back is by trying to get the sympathy of the public by saying that their competitors are overpriced and THEY are the ones who are "right".

If the Scottish Government doesn't pass any laws about "truth in advertising", I think that Geoffery Tailor and other traditional kiltmakers should start opening their OWN tartan tat stores on the Royal Mile and selling Pakistani Kilts (and their own of course). If you can't beat 'em and no one's going to stop them and your business can't survive otherwise... join 'em. After they open enough "tat stores" of their own, it'll hurt the GB. Barring this type of move, the GB will have cart blanche to do what they like for as long as they like and they'll gain momentum (and $$$) until they're unstopable.

[McClef]

Rocky - over here the word "****" is considered to be racist and derogatory.

I doubt that the reputable shops would start selling them but if they did I would hope that they would have the "baws" to put country of origin on the label.

[Stewart Rendall]

"The maximum someone should be paying for a kilt is £200"

That's an outrageous thing to say. If they'd qualified it with adding 'Polyviscose' fair enough, but as it is, it's an absurd claim.

[Nanook]

That line ("kiltmakers have had it too good for too long") was meant as a DELIBERATE jab at high end kiltmakers in Scotland who are complaining about the GB.

Correct--- and much of the complaints xenophobic and protectionistic.

If the Scottish Government doesn't pass any laws about "truth in advertising",

There are laws about truth in advertising. The problem with the Gold Bros (and for that matter NEARLY every shop in Europe) is that salesmen don't know where things are made unless explicitly stated. Many Scottish made sporrans don't have a "Made in Scotland" stamp and most sporrans currently sold that don't have a "Made in Scotland" stamp are NOT made in Scotland (including some from some very Scottish brands). This has created ruin, for instance, of the sporran trade. Its, however, also destroyed most of the traditional knitwear market as well.. and ...

I think that Geoffery Tailor and other traditional kiltmakers should start opening their OWN tartan tat stores on the Royal Mile

That's what they've been doing. Most of the established shops have been moving down market at record pace.

Does Geoffrey Nicholsby sell only the highest standards of Highland attire ? While he has weavers, sells tartan and has good kilts (not all of them wool and many machine sewn) on offer he's also selling the same cheap glued and fused grade of jackets alongside the same grade of accessories that Gold Bros do! He simply, I'd suggest, does not have the resources nor does the market demand from him anything else.. Sure the Gold Bros shops have some low end accessories but increasingly the Scottish makers themselves have been moving lower end (or closing like Nicol Bros in Bankfoot) to provide competitive products.

After they open enough "tat stores" of their own, it'll hurt the GB.

I don't follow the logic. The Gold Bros shops are doing well since they have been good at developing and adapting to the market. They are--- like it or not--- one of the success stories of local Scottish "kilt" retailing. A lot of the "established" shops like to blame the Gold Bros for their declining fortunes but fortunes have been in decline for the entire European producing textile industry (especially German and British).

Kinloch Anderson, for example, has been adapting to the changing market by licensing their brand for the Asian markets. Several companies, for example, in Taiwan (with production in China) have licensed the brand for items such as umbrellas, stationery, leather shoes and whiskey products. They also have over 300 outlets throughout Korea, Taiwan and Japan and together with Taiwan based Yuan-Tie textiles trying their hand at joint venture in China--- sales into China and expanded production in China for sales via their new attempts into the American market. With a significant part of their income coming from Asia K-A's flapship in Edinburgh is becoming merely that.. an address to legitimate a brand that is selling, as they put it "British Style - Scottish Character" (made in, I'd add, Scotland, China or wherever).