Quote Originally Posted by ardchoille View Post
When I returned home from shopping today I was greeted by two boxes from Stillwater Kilts. Here is my review.

Standard Kilt- Nightstalker Tartan
1. Tack down stitching was still in the kilt. I feel that the customer shouldn't have to deal with this. I have received several kilts from The Scotland Yard and they always remove the tacking before shipping the kilt.. and the pleats don't suffer from this.

2. Upon putting the kilt on I found that the buckles are misaligned. The lower buckle, in the first hole, leaves some of the material bunched up between the buckle and the strap. The other two buckles are strapped to the same hole and don't bunch up the material.

3. About a half inch of the under apron is visible below the outer apron (sag?) and I see no way to fix this other than hemming the under apron.

4. The back of the waist area seems to have double the amount of material in it and it became very hot in the hour I wore the kilt.

5. This kilt needs to be hemmed two inches before I can wear it but I'm not going to bother because I will never wear this kilt.

6. The Economy Kilt Pin I received was already tarnished and some buffing did not fix this. I can't use this pin.

Customer service: A+
Product quality: F
Would I buy this again: No

I'm sorry to say this, but I can't believe xmarks members settle for this kind of junk.

The Buzz Kidder Ribbed Sporran I received, on the other hand, is excellent. It's roomy and I like the belt loops on the back. I would definitely buy this item again.
I recieved this same exact kilt today myself, so let me give my own review with my own view to your points.

1: I liked very much that the basting stitches were still in the kilt, this is usualy something that you only get from the top end kilt manufacturers, this certainly helps keep the pleats sharper out of the box, and with a synthetic fiber kilt the pleats tend to flaten out a lot more than a worsted wool kilt. I was very impressed when not only did my standard night stalker, but also my thrifty kilt I ordered at the same time had basting stitches.

2: The kilt, while not custom fitted, is still tapered out at the hip. I put on my SWK nightstalker standard and my top buckle on the right and the left buckle I had on the close in hole, but the bottom buckle further down on the hip was on the 2nd hole, as expected because the hip is wider than the waist. If I cinched the kilt in all the way to the same hole as the top buckle, sure, there was some material bunching, however this isnt how it would be worn, as it would make it too tight at the hip.

3: You will have this problem with 100% of kilts not hand tailored. You cant expect this in the price range of the SWK standard. I only own one kilt that has ever had the under apron hemmed to prevent droopage. I paid over $350 for this kilt. (and it's not even a full-sized kilt, it's a tailored filde-beg style, 4 yard knife pleated kilt)



my new nightstalker standard SWK does hang down about half an inch, for what I paid, i'll put a slight under apron hem in it myself and be very happy.

4: The SWK standard is a full size knife pleated kilt, it WILL have almost 2/3rd of the total tartan in the back side of it, every "full" kilt (non 4-yarder) will be like this. This is why some people like box-pleated kilts, as they are more half and half with material in the front and back. Many people dont like box pleated kilts because they WANT all that material in the back. Kilts are a very warm garmet, getting hot while wearing a full length knife pleated kilt is expected, thus why a lot of people like light weight 4 yarders as a 'casual kilt' or 'every day wear' kilt

5: Are you wearing the kilt at the right height? the top of the kilt should be between 1 and 2 inches above your bellybutton. I'm 6'1" myself and i wear it just a little bit over my belly button and it fits perfect. Unless you're quite short lenght shouldnt be too much of an issue, SWK states that all their kilts are 24"


I for one can not be happier with the standard nightstalker which I just bought. For what I paid for it, it's the best value I've ever recieved for a kilt. In all seriousness, what's your waist size Ardchollie, if you're similar to me (38") and you're not going to be returning it i'll seriously consdier trying to work something out with you.