Heritage of Scotland Heavyweight PV Kilts

[billmcc]

I have been thinking about buying a causal kilt made of heavyweight polyviscose from Heritage of Scotland. I emailed them about the PV material and they stated the PV does not have a Telfon coating.

The 11 ounce PV used by USA Kilts does have a Telfon coating.

[Kilted Stuart]

I thought most makers that do PV kilts use a teflon coated material. I thought that was standard and one of the benifits of a PV kilt. Most kiltmakers draw there material from the same mills. There's alway's a chance they might buying from a local mill that does it different.
I know that the PV kilts made by Machummel at Canadian Casual kilts is teflon coated.

[Riverkilt]

I might be wrong here, but think the mills and tartans available are limited. Best selection I found was by googling "tartan bedspread"

Can't recall who, but there were a LOT of tartans made up as bedspreads out of PV. Guessing PV kiltmakers buy from the same mills.

Ron

[billmcc]

It seems that all pv is not created equally.

Heritage of Scotland states their heavyweight pv is a 16 ounce material. So, it is not the same as the 11 ounce material used by other kilt makers.

Before buying an inexpensive kilt, I highly recommend asking for specific information instead of assuming the kilt will have standard features.

[JerryMacP]

I wouldn't assume anything Heritage of Scotland (aka ScotlandShopDirect, Kiltsworld, JMKilts, etc) says is true. The reason the tartan is 'different' is quite likely that it's made in India, China, etc. and not Scotland. Most of the rubbish they sell are poor third world forgeries of authentic products. Even if you see an identical photo of a sporran or something that you've seen on another site, don't assume it's the same! View the real thing and their version side by side and you'll know at once. They're a family of Asian 'entrepreneurs' with no history in Highland Dress, employing cheap often foreign sales staff with little clue about the products, in a chain of awful tourist shops blaring out taped bagpipes on Scottish streets who fool the ignorant into buying their cheap copies. The issue was raised in the Scottish parliament last week with a probably ill-fated effort to make their imported fake 'Scottish' products illegal, as it's damaging the genuine trade so badly. Buy from them at your own risk!

[Iolaus]

I foolishly bought a low budget item from them recently, and got what I paid for - a low budget kilt. Is this the same thing you're thinking about? On mine the pleats are only about 1¼" deep, and the fabric is stiff. Someone said to try washing it, maybe with fabric softener, which I haven't done yet, but my first impression out of the box was "I'm not likely to wear this."

[michael steinrok]

You guys sure know your materials ;-)

[Jimmy Carbomb]

There is a source for 16 ounce Poly Viscose out there, and it's probably where they get theirs from. The material is quite nice in weight, and the tightness in the weave. Don't judge THIS poly viscose material by other ones... or the way that these particular kilts are constructed. A talented and educated hand with this heavier material is better than you would think.

The teflon coating is used by numerous PV mills around the world... and there are a LOAD of them. I'm particularly partial to wool/viscose blends over the PV. The look's much better, the feel's nearly identical to wool, the weights are numerous, and the maintenance is minimal compared to pure wool. The cost is also more realistic than what you're being quoted from some mills.

Tartans from this particular mill with the 16 ounce PV are limited since they're respecting the House of Edgar rights. There are, however, more than 500 to choose from at this time. If it's necesary, there's also another PV mill that makes the 300g material that you're used to (10.56oz) and they'll make it in anything you want. It's also coated, but costs 1/2 what you're seeing from other larger mills. They also do business in the USA so that there are no duties, imports or liens added-in to the final costs.

I'm currently using them both, and know that their quality is good.

[starbkjrus]

The amount of knowledge here is just incredible. Not just about kilts but history as well. Well done gentlemen!