I agree with Steve and I'd like to add my $.02 if you'll allow me.

As someone who makes and sells kilts around the $100 pricepoint (ours are admittedly a little over $100 in most cases), there is nothing wrong with wanting a kilt and not being able to afford a higher priced '8 yard wool' kilt, therefore purchasing a lower priced alternative.

What I will say, with hat in hand and as respectfully as possible to the newer guys who may not know the intricacies and difference between an 8 yard wool kilt and a less expensive kilt: Please don't take 'corrections' of something you stated personally (though the 'corrections' can be occasionally stated a bit more gently). The internet is full of half truths and marketing ploys and outright falsities (supposed facts that are in fact dead wrong). On Xmarks, we try to separate the wheat from the chaff (and the truth from the false statements). We all have opinions and that is fine. However, there is a difference between an opinion and a fact. When someone states something as a fact that is incorrect, it is up to members with more experience / knowledge to correct it so that these things don't seep into the general 'truth consciousness' about kilts.

Ludicrous Example: No one is allowed to wear a clan tartan unless that's your surname (last name) and the mill won't sell you the cloth unless you can prove it.

Now if someone wrote that and no one challenged it with facts, it would be "out there" in the ethos for anyone to read. Let's say someone is researching that exact topic and comes across statements like that (which are un-true, but he doesn't know any better). What is he to believe? What if he says "Well, I guess I'm not allowed to wear a kilt then since I don't have a tartan" and turns away from a fun garment which we all enjoy b/c someone's obviously false statement was allowed to stand unchallenged.

Xmarks is a good INFORMATIVE source for opinions and facts. It's only through POLITELY correcting people that:

1. The person who made the statement understands why it wasn't correct and maybe will learn something. (again, there's a difference between FACT and OPINION)

2. We keep the site as 'factually correct' as we can to maintain it's usefulness as a resource for new kilt wearers looking for facts (and opinions) about what is right and wrong.

Bottom line -

Old Timers and those of us who know better: Take the time to POLITELY correct a newbie to help them. If you're impatient b/c many people have asked the same question and you're tired of answering it, MAKE A LIST OF POLITE ANSWERS IN A WORD DOC and copy / paste them into the post. There's no reason to be snippy with a newbie. We all had to start somewhere, remember?

Newbies: Please take advice and corrections in the spirit in which they are (or should) be given - to improve the website and to help improve your knowledge of the subject and to inform you... not to degrade or insult you and your purchase.

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ALL are welcome here to share their experiences and opinions on the garment that we love: the kilt.