Wannabe kilt makers

[PatJ]

I have been reflecting on the number of kilt maker sites now on the internet. When I first became interested in kilts, one would go to E-bay to try and purchase a good used kilt and hope that it would fit properly. Later other sites Utilikilts, Sportkilts, Stillwater kilts, etc. began to open up shop.

Oh, their kilts are nice, but they are not the same make and quality of a custom made kilt from a Scottish kiltmaker, although - their price is much more in keeping with the average Joe like me.

This was only the beginning of kilt - makers - retailers - etc.

It seems to me, there are quite a number of kilt maker wannabees available, and if price is the only consideration, they are adequate. Yet the durability and quality isn't the same as the Scottish kiltmakers, but they do beat the snot out of them on price.

I have looked at many of the "new" kiltmakers and their products have improved over the years. The price is also increasing. Materials, labor, advertising, other overhead costs and the need to make a fair profit, all add to the increasing costs of kilts. (So enters the cheap labor and overhead from third world nations.) Yet, if there were a way to mass produce "modern" kilts - of good quality - in sufficient volume - I do think that a viable business could be born.

Many of the Kilt Maker Wannabee's could build a that business by sharing talents and resources rather than competing with each other. The question that I submit to the forum is, "Should this be the way they should go, or should we let free enterprise continue and survival of the fittest lead us into the future?"

There! I've done my duty and posted something for the first time in months. I feel so much better now.

PatJ

[bricelythgoe]

Let capitalism follow its course. Free enterprise is the best way to do this. If there is a demand for cheap, low quality kilts, then there will always be someone to fill that demand. If some kilt makers want to get together and do what you suggested, let them do it. The free market will always end up right in this situation.

Brice

[CameronTaylor]

Since both Ebay and Sportkilt have been around since 1995, which one is newer ?


CT -

[Dan R Porter]

Some of the sites you listed, such as still water is NOT a kilt maker, nor do they claim to be.

This seems to be the "sell-out" mentality. Shoes used to be hand-made by leather craftsman. Then they went into mass production due to demand. Its good business. There are still leather pro's out there, and the quality is better, but sometimes finances and technology just surpasses artists. Sad in one respect, but also positive for those that want a good buy.

Yet we do see "Hot Topic" kilts (Er its hard for me too call them that." We also see "Contemperary kilts." This open market and increasing demand can be looked at both ways.

Will the art of hand-sewns be lost forever? DOubt that. I am sure there are still people making tissue box warmers. The only quaetion that is, in my opinion, impossible to answer is when is a kilt not a kilt?

[bentneedle]

I swim in a very small pond - Highland Dancewear. Whilst I do enjoy capitalism at every opportunity, I also prefer to see other craftsmen and suppliers as colleagues-not-competitors. I have many examples in recent years as to why this is better for my business. I ampleased to say very few others have responded badly to my invitation to "play nice".

[The Wizard of BC]

It used to be that the only Kilt there was was a garment made the old way. With needle and thread and a steady eye. Very few garments were still made that way.

Then a whole other world opened up.

The beginning was a company that found a niche. Highland Athletes must wear the Kilt while competing. So they began to produce a less expensive alternative.

Then a guy found a weaving mill that was producing Tartan fabric in something other than Wool. That fabric didn't cost an arm and a leg. And another type of Kilt was born.

Then another guy who was steeped in the Traditional Kilt world started making Kilts from some wild fabrics and getting his friends who happen to be in the public media to wear them.

Then another guy cut the crotch out of a pair of shorts and called it a Kilt. This guy came up with a way to get his product in front of a huge audience.

And another found that the non-Wool, non-Traditional Kilts, that were out there were not the sort of Kilt he would like to wear so found a way to upgrade the quality and look to almost replicate the swish of a Traditional.

Then came along a guy who thought totally outside the box and found a way to put different, fun, fabrics into the pleats that would flash when you walked.

Another guy figured out to put practical pockets into a Kilt.

When all of this began to be noticed by the Traditional Kilt world it sort of blind sided the artists who until now had quietly been practicing and passing down their art.

And then something happened. There had always been those who showed up at their local Highland Games wearing their idea of costume. Some had seen the movie "Braveheart" one too many times.
And a guy selling t-shirts started taking photos and posting them on this new thing called the web.

And then some people who had a huge labor pool, and some prior expertise, found that all these new Kilts and the demand they were generating offered a way to build a whole planned city around the making and selling of Kilts.

The hand-sewn Traditional artist like Barb T. (The lady who wrote the book) and Matt Newsome (The most researched historical Kilt) found that instead of taking business away these new Kilts were bringing business to them like they had never seen before.

Today the Casual Kilt, the Contemporary Kilt, and the MUG makers each have their own specialty. We all know each other. Most of us have met each other and shared a cup of coffee or a pint. Some of us have become very good friends.
We each, as business people, have choices to make. What direction would we like our business to go in? What do I do to make me just a little different from everyone else out there? How can I make a living out of this and feed my family?

Today this industry is separated into two methods of doing business. There are Kiltmakers and there are Kilt Sellers. In general the Kiltmakers just want to make the best product they can produce at the most reasonable price and still feed their family. They delicatly balance their own wages against time and materials.
The Kilt Sellers are trying to feed their family too, but profit margin is a bit more important issue to them. Buy low, sell high is a Law of the markets.

Where am I going with this long diatribe? To let you know that this thing we currently call The Kilt World is very, very young. No one yet knows where it will go.
It's also a very, very small world. Just hundreds of thousands of a percent of the general population.
And those two facts make it a very difficult business to be in. A cottage industry that has the potential to be something.

So, if you have an idea that you think will allow you to make a living then the world is open to you. Jump on in, the water's fine. But remember that just because there is the little world we call X Marks where everyone you meet is wearing a Kilt that still is not the way of the world. Not fully accepted yet.

We are still sorting out what this world will become. New ideas abound. Some come, some go. And some of us just stick around. Too stubborn to say quit.

And I suspect that very soon, some smart young person will come along and blind-side us all with a totally different and new idea. We will all slap our foreheads and whine "Why didn't I think of that?"

[PatJ]

Dan wrote in part "Shoes used to be hand-made by leather craftsman"....

When I was in Southeast Asia during the VietNam war, I had shoes made for my feet. They traced my foot, measured across the top - did this and did that. When the shoes were finished, they fit like a glove and had no break in period. The price, $15 back in 1970.

Oh what memories your post brought me, Dan.

[RockyR]

Mostly 'ditto' what Steve said. In MANY other industries I've worked in, competing 'brands' or companies had a fierce rivalries.

However, in the world of kilts (and I'd even extend this to the broader 'Irish Market' in the US), it's MUCH different. GENERALLY, it's a 'make nice with your competitors' sort of world. While the pool of potential customers is a 'niche market', most companies in this market know each other. The honorable ones know who the other honorable ones are and tend to refer business back and forth between each other. 'If I can't help you, I'll refer you to my friend who might be able to' kind of thing. The 'not so honorable' ones usually just kind of keep to themselves as the bottom line ($$$) is typically more a motivating factor than helping the customer.

I am proud to say that I refer consumers to UK, FK, RKilts, AK, SWK, CCK, Matt Newsome, Alexis Malcolm, NUMEROUS Irish shops, etc... I know these people / companies personally, and will gladly send consumers to them when I know that's what the individual needs (if I don't have it).

The OTHER way I look at it... if nothing else, I'm gaining karma points.

It used to be that the only Kilt there was was a garment made the old way. With needle and thread and a steady eye. Very few garments were still made that way.

Then a whole other world opened up.

The beginning was a company that found a niche. Highland Athletes must wear the Kilt while competing. So they began to produce a less expensive alternative.

Then a guy found a weaving mill that was producing Tartan fabric in something other than Wool. That fabric didn't cost an arm and a leg. And another type of Kilt was born.

Then another guy who was steeped in the Traditional Kilt world started making Kilts from some wild fabrics and getting his friends who happen to be in the public media to wear them.

Then another guy cut the crotch out of a pair of shorts and called it a Kilt. This guy came up with a way to get his product in front of a huge audience.

And another found that the non-Wool, non-Traditional Kilts, that were out there were not the sort of Kilt he would like to wear so found a way to upgrade the quality and look to almost replicate the swish of a Traditional.

Then came along a guy who thought totally outside the box and found a way to put different, fun, fabrics into the pleats that would flash when you walked.

Another guy figured out to put practical pockets into a Kilt.

When all of this began to be noticed by the Traditional Kilt world it sort of blind sided the artists who until now had quietly been practicing and passing down their art.

And then something happened. There had always been those who showed up at their local Highland Games wearing their idea of costume. Some had seen the movie "Braveheart" one too many times.
And a guy selling t-shirts started taking photos and posting them on this new thing called the web.

And then some people who had a huge labor pool, and some prior expertise, found that all these new Kilts and the demand they were generating offered a way to build a whole planned city around the making and selling of Kilts.

The hand-sewn Traditional artist like Barb T. (The lady who wrote the book) and Matt Newsome (The most researched historical Kilt) found that instead of taking business away these new Kilts were bringing business to them like they had never seen before.

Today the Casual Kilt, the Contemporary Kilt, and the MUG makers each have their own specialty. We all know each other. Most of us have met each other and shared a cup of coffee or a pint. Some of us have become very good friends.
We each, as business people, have choices to make. What direction would we like our business to go in? What do I do to make me just a little different from everyone else out there? How can I make a living out of this and feed my family?

Today this industry is separated into two methods of doing business. There are Kiltmakers and there are Kilt Sellers. In general the Kiltmakers just want to make the best product they can produce at the most reasonable price and still feed their family. They delicatly balance their own wages against time and materials.
The Kilt Sellers are trying to feed their family too, but profit margin is a bit more important issue to them. Buy low, sell high is a Law of the markets.

Where am I going with this long diatribe? To let you know that this thing we currently call The Kilt World is very, very young. No one yet knows where it will go.
It's also a very, very small world. Just hundreds of thousands of a percent of the general population.
And those two facts make it a very difficult business to be in. A cottage industry that has the potential to be something.

So, if you have an idea that you think will allow you to make a living then the world is open to you. Jump on in, the water's fine. But remember that just because there is the little world we call X Marks where everyone you meet is wearing a Kilt that still is not the way of the world. Not fully accepted yet.

We are still sorting out what this world will become. New ideas abound. Some come, some go. And some of us just stick around. Too stubborn to say quit.

And I suspect that very soon, some smart young person will come along and blind-side us all with a totally different and new idea. We will all slap our foreheads and whine "Why didn't I think of that?"

[CameronTaylor]

As everybody's Mother should have told them: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.


CT - and 99.99% of it doesn't matter.

[Makeitstop]

I have looked at many of the "new" kiltmakers and their products have improved over the years. The price is also increasing. Materials, labor, advertising, other overhead costs and the need to make a fair profit, all add to the increasing costs of kilts. (So enters the cheap labor and overhead from third world nations.) Yet, if there were a way to mass produce "modern" kilts - of good quality - in sufficient volume - I do think that a viable business could be born.

The idea of mass producing non-traditional kilts in a third world country is interesting, and it may very well happen some day. But I think there is a good reason why it hasn't happened yet.

Labor in third world countries is cheap, and mass production is certainly efficient, but the savings only come along after the initial start up costs, and only with a certain volume of business. If you want to make pants, or t-shirts, or rubber vomit, there is clearly a large enough market to warrant such an investment. But kilts, while increasing in popularity, are still only bought by a tiny portion of the population. Even if all other competitors suddenly disappeared, there still probably wouldn't be a large enough market to justify the expense of such an operation. It just wouldn't be a smart investment.

Now, if kilts ever reach the tipping point, I'm sure some one will make the calculations and figure out that there is money to be made in wal-mart kilts. As a consumer, I would like that. But I'm not exactly holding my breath. I doubt we'll see such a thing in less than a decade, if ever.


And of course, I am not entirely sure what that world would look like. Yes, there would be an abundance of cheap, hopefully decent, probably not amazing kilts. This would definitely bring more people into the kilted crowd. But I'm not convinced this would mean an end to the kiltmakers we know and love. There will still be a demand for quality, and having a bunch of cheap kilts grow the market could be beneficial in the long run.

Today I was looking at hats. I will be spending much of my summer in a rustic, outdoors setting and I would like a hat so I don't need to completely bathe in sunblock all the time. I am leaning towards one I found online for $72, even though I saw several that may be adequate at wal-mart for under $10. I am sure that wal-mart sells far more, but the other guys are doing just fine selling a better product for more money.

Heck, why does anyone pay $100 or more for jeans when I can find them for $15?

But this all pure speculation about some hypothetical future situation. For now there just isn't room on the market for cheap, mass produced non-trad kilts. We shall simply have to accept that we are stuck with the best.