Quote Originally Posted by Robbie
From the traditionalist point of view anything under 5yds is not a kilt of any kind (now that's going to upset someone!) - however, if you measure your Bear 4yd you are most likely to find it actually measures near enough 5yds (info from Bear on a different topic).
It does depend on your waist size and the sett of the tartan but we have made our '4 yard kilts' more than 4 yards, rather than less. Sometimes as much as 6 yards was used in a '4 yard kilt'. The extra yardage is often necessary to make a decent looking kilt.
Now, we have started charging for the extra yardage but in our first year of business we tried not to charge for the extra yardage. It simply isn't feasible from a business standpoint. I shorted myself at least $2000.00 by giving away those extra yards here and there.
It was worth it to try, though. When starting Bear Kilts I heard a lot of negative comments about the "fat tax" and tried to beat the problem.
There are only two ways to get around the problem. One is to set prices higher to cover the cost of extra yardage. The other is to charge by the yard. I was forced to choose the latter only because I can't afford to keep giving away free fabric and I won't charge extra to thin guys for fabric they won't get.