Every day is Tartan Day for devoted kilt maker
The leggy garment is a way of life for Robert MacDonald
Chantal Eustace
Vancouver Sun
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
CREDIT: Glenn Baglo/Vancouver Sun
Kilt maker Robert MacDonald.
Whenever he can, local kilt maker Robert MacDonald likes to wear his Scottish heritage on his hips.
"I'd say it's an integral part of who I am," says MacDonald, adding that he is more comfortable in a kilt than in trousers.
It has nothing to do with the fact that Tartan Day - the province's annual nod to its Scottish heritage, part of a global celebration of Highland culture - is this Sunday.
"For me a kilt is just something I grew up with, like a T-shirt," MacDonald says when asked about Tartan Day. "That's like saying, let's celebrate T-shirt day."
It doesn't concern him that the holiday, recognized in B.C. since 1993, hasn't taken off in the local Scottish community with the same gusto as Robert Burns Day.
"I wish [Tartan Day] well but I can't say I'm rooting for it on the sidelines like a cheerleader," MacDonald says, seated at the kilt-making table in his Vancouver home, where he sews his made-to-order creations. "I'll be fine if it takes off and I'll be fine if it doesn't take off."
After all, there is a year-round demand for his tartan creations.
Business is so good, it's hard to keep up. He has more than 50 kilts currently on order and won't be taking any new requests until October.
MacDonald began making kilts in 1975 when he was in one of the military's kilted regiments.
There he came across a "condemned" kilt that was to be cut up for tartan patches. Instead, he dissected it to learn how it was made.
Since then, he has made hundreds of kilts. He says once a customer's measurements are completed and the wool fabric is ordered, a kilt takes about 20 hours to sew by hand.
He is self-trained. His tools are simple. He uses a pair of scissors, a measuring tape, thread, a lump of beeswax and a needle. He answers the phone by saying, "Kilt maker," and spends about four hours on his kilts each day.
Canadians see kilts in their own unique way, as a comfortable and practical item of clothing, MacDonald says about the garment's appeal.
"I think part of it is, it's a really well-tailored piece of clothing," he says. "And it projects an air of confidence. When you've got a kilt, it's the most versatile piece of men's attire."
If you wear it correctly. He says the eight yards of wool are tailored to fit one's hips without any, er, interruption.
"If you're wearing 'y-fronts,' the action of the kilt moving will slowly push your underwear down," he says, adding that he witnessed this during a parade once when an unsuspecting - and presumably modest - fellow learned this lesson the hard way.
"His underwear dropped to his ankles and he tripped."
Wardrobe malfunctions aside, he says, kilts are the "most versatile" garment a man can own, perfect for all occasions.
He'll wear a kilt to do the Grouse Grind paired with hiking boots or dress it up with a suit jacket and tie.
"Any well-dressed man projects self-confidence and the kilt shows man to his best advantage," he wrote on his website, westcoastkilts.ca.
The site provides tips on kilt etiquette, from how it should fit to finding what tartan to wear, and what not to wear.
"Some tartans just shouldn't be worn, either because they are overused" or because they belong to families or organizations. (If in doubt, ask the kilt maker or a local tartan shop owner.)
His advice on fit?
"We fatties use the kilt to curtail our guts, and the skinny guys need to haul their kilts tight so that they don't slide down over their - non-existent - bums," MacDonald says.
ceustace@png.canwest.com
© Vancouver Sun
Originally Posted by The Wizard of BC
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