In my closet hang a number of kilts that I have made. I wear them a lot, though they get rotated a bit depending on seasons. For example, my first handsewn, in MacNicol, red, modern....NOT worsted wool, was on my hips on Tuesday. It's a really warm kilt! Yesterday, the Lindsay, modern 10 ounce poly/wool blend 6 yard was strapped on. Last Friday I wore the Calfornia State tartan box pleat, 4 yard in nice worsted wool, 13 ounce.

I wear and enjoy them all.

Here's the thing. The kilts which are standing up the best, and will probably last the longest, are the worsted wool, 13 ounce jobs. I wear that California Tartan box pleat a LOT and it still looks great. I wear the Lindsay wool/poly just as much and it still looks good, but I'm starting to see a bit of loss in the structure of the thing. It's still wonderful, and it still looks fine, I love it during the summer, and I'm sure I'll be wearing it for a while, yet, but there's no escaping the truth. The fabric isn't quite what it was, three years ago when I made it.

Does this mean that the cloth is "bad" or that the Lindsay kilt is somehow "bad"? No, not at all. Honestly, if I was one of those guys who only wore my kilt a few times a year, that Lindsay 6-yarder would probably last 20 years. That's not too shabby for 15-16 hours of work and 6 yards of cloth on Sale. I certainly am not complaining. There's also the fact that I wouldn't think twice about wearing that Lindsay poly/wool 10 ounce kilt on the field to throw in, or off in the backcountry on a hike.

We can go on and on about "value". I personally feel that I got excellent value when I bought the tartan that went into that Lindsay kilt. I've worn it probably once a week, maybe once every ten days for almost three years. There aren't too many articles of clothing that will last that long. There's also the initial cost issue. When I started this kilting thing, there was no way I was going to drop $400 on a kilt NO WAY. However, that's exactly what I did with my Capercaillie. So all those less expensive jobs, which I still wear and love, brought me to a place where that $400 seemed a lot more reasonable than they did, five years ago.

All this brings me to my conclusion. There are different kinds of kilts, even tartan kilts, for different kinds of purposes. However, if you are only going to have ONE kilt (or maybe two)... If you KNOW that you're going to be wearing kilts for the long-term.... If you expect to wear your kilt(s) rather a lot, though perhaps not out in real grime, sweat and filth.... then it's worth it to pay the extra dollars for 13 or 16 ounce real worsted cloth because it's going to look really nice, longer.

Just my two shillings on the subject.