First of all, I should note that I had a hard time deciding which forum I should post this review in -- here, or in the "traditional kilts" area... Jerry's product is that good. In the end, I decided to put it here, because it is, after all, made of a synthetic fabric, not wool.

Fall financial aid disbursed last week, and after making my final payment to Matt for my MacMedic box-pleat, I decided to go ahead and get a Stillwater standard, because I'd had good results from ordering one of Jerry's thrifty kilts. I went to the web page, and discovered that one of the tartans I most admire, Hunting MacLeod, was on sale, fifteen dollars less than the other standards. Unable to pass up a bargain of that magnitude, I placed my order. To my surprise, Jerry seems not to accept Google checkout anymore, but still does accept PayPal, so that was okay.

I got an email the next day that my order had shipped, and that day, I headed for Tucson to visit my family. When I returned a couple of days later, the package was waiting in the dorm office for me, and I quickly carried it upstairs and opened it. I should state once again at this point that I do not currently have a digital camera, so, alas, there will be no photographs in this review. Sorry.

I was a little surprised by the basting stitches -- you may recall from my review of the Thrifty kilt that there were two rows of basting stitches in it. On the Standard, there were only one. A little bit of thought, however, told me why -- on the Standard, the fell is sewn down, providing stability at the top of the pleat. I tried the kilt on to be sure it was the right size, then removed the basting stitches, and tried it on again.

I have one very minor criticism here: the left-hand strap is almost exactly the same size as the "buttonhole" it goes through. I think the kilt would be improved by 1) having the buckle on the inside, the way Matt does, or 2) having a slightly larger hole, or 3) a slightly smaller strap. At any rate, the three-buckle system is considered traditional, and all three buckles are present on this kilt, along with leather straps.

(As an aside, the more I play with kilts, the more I think that two buckles and straps are pleanty, and if / when I get around to having Tanks made for myself, I'll ask the kiltmaker to leave off the lower right buckle).

The Standard kilt has about two more yards of fabric in it, which results in deeper pleats. I was surprised by the practical results of this -- first of all, there's a much nicer swish to the pleats when walking, and secondly... well, not to seem indelicate, but sometimes, when I stand up after sitting on the pleats of the Thrifty, they need to be, er, tugged upon. This didn't happen with the standard.

I wore the Standard all day today, the first day of classes in the new semester. I got a couple of compliments, a couple of "What tartan is that?" and a couple of out and out funny looks for wearing a kilt. I loved the swish and weight, and in all, heartily approve of the kilt... so much so that I'm probably going to order two more standards within the week.

So, ratings:

Customer Service: A
Quality of Construction: B+
Value for the Dollar: A
Overall: A