Kingussie kilt in Ancient Caledonia: Review

[ForresterModern]

Back in early October I placed an order from Keltoi GaelicClothing.com for a Kingussie build 6yd kilt in Ancient Caledonia tartan from Marton Mills Jura 16 oz material, along with a couple sets of custom hose. John offers a 10% discount to xmarkers and I just could not pass up the deals available at the time. About a month ago I got the whole order but have yet to get around to posting a decent review, so I will deal with the kilt here now and the hose later as part of a combined hose review.
John was very easy to work with and is great with communication. He sent me options for pleating and we subsequently decided on pleating to the orange stripe. As I was a bit down his work list (he is a one man kilt making shop) he emailed again as I neared the top of his list to make sure my measurements had not changed and to update me on my status and expected date of completion and delivery.
The kilt is beautiful, well made completely by hand, without a misplaced or uneven stitch to be found. The tartan is vivid and solid with a nice finish and good weight and hand. The kilt uses right at 5 yards of tartan at the selvedge, and a bit more for the waistband, etc. As a Kingussie build, it has a single central overlapped box pleat that is 3 inches wide visible and 3 deep under neath each side of that pleat. There are 5 forward pointing pleats to each side of this, 10 total, each with about 3.5 inches of depth and 3 inches of reveal, along with deep reverse pleats on both the left and right sides, at the edges of the under and front apron respectively. Quality straps and buckles , solidly attached, and I had also requested braces buttons (since my weight tends to fluctuate a bit) which were attached in pairs to the outside of the rear and the inside of the front apron and underapron. 2 small sporran strap loops are also attached high on the fell. The fell has straight lines with clean seams and appears to have the excess fabric cut out. The overall kilt is relatively lightweight and very comfortable to wear. The Kingussie build actually makes it easy to sweep pleats since they all go to the front easily as that is the way they point on both sides. He included chevron tartan flashes as well as a small patch to wear behind one’s cap badge as additional flash. I waited for an order of House of Cheviot Lewis hose in cinnamon color to go with the Ancient Caledonia tartan, evident under the kilt in the following pictures.

Photos:

Front



Right side



Right side pleat view



Rear



Rear Pleat closeup



Left side



Left side pleat view




I can strongly recommend John as a quality kiltmaker who does great work at a reasonable price (plus a discount), in a good time frame, with great communications. I would not hesitate to use him again.

Thanks for the great job, John.



jeff

[BoldHighlander]

Another great looking kilt Jeff!

I've always considered one day having a kilt done up with the Kingussie pleat. Now I'm convinced!

[sfb]

Beautiful kilt. Beautiful tartan too. Looks like top class tailoring to me.

Hand on heart though, I'm not sure the sporran hangers are doing much for the overall look. And I speak as a man who's carrying a wee bit of extra timber himself.

[ForresterModern]

Hand on heart though, I'm not sure the sporran hangers are doing much for the overall look. And I speak as a man who's carrying a wee bit of extra timber himself.

I have done the sporran strap and chains both and had no luck keeping it over the paunch and I really hate the low hanging sporran and bunched up front apron look something terrible. So sporran hangers wil be my standard until at least another 25 pounds is shed. By then I will need a whole new kilt wardrobe, though. Jeez, just what I needed, more shopping.

j

[sfb]

Lol - aye, you and me both.

[Noel Christian Riddell]

Class-looking kilt, Jeff. Love the ancient Caledonia coloring.

[celt72]

That's a great looking kilt!

[dfmacliam]

John is great to work with, he has made two of my three kilts. I like your kilt, very nice, and those hose go so well with it.. I am sure you will treasure this gem, as I treasure mine. Good luck with the weight issues and smart move on the brace buttons..

[denmcdough]

Another wonderful kilt, there. Love that tartan, and the hose make it perfect. Have fun!

[ForresterModern]

I forgot to add in the original review that if you order over $500CDN from John then shipping was free. So my kilt and a pair of hose pretty much kicked me into the free shipping range. Another bonus.

jeff