Website Upgrade

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I'm in the process of upgrading my web site. The kilt section is more or less completed, with the exception of one or two pages still under construction. The knitwear section will be upgraded soon but in the meantime the old pages are still up (with a couple of odd graphic issues which are the result of the partial upgrade, so please be patient with those).

But as I said, the kilt section of the website has been upgraded -- check it out!
http://newhousehighland.com/kilt_intro.html

Aside from the layout change, there are a couple of other changes I wanted to bring to your attention. The major one is how I am now categorizing my kilts.

Up till now, I divided my kilts into two major categories: stock tartans and custom weaves. This has worked well for me. The major advantage of this is its simplicity. If your tartan is one stocked by the mills, your kilt is one price. If it has to be woven to order, it will be another (higher) price. Period.

With the new website upgrade, I'm renaming those categories as "heirloom" and "standard." Why the change?

It occurred to me that by classing the kilts either as "stock" or "custom weave" the only people really taking advantage of the custom weave option were those whose tartans were not stocked by any of the mills. Which is fine. However, there are in fact a myriad of other reasons why someone might want to have their tartan custom woven for their kilt, even if their tartan is stocked elsewhere. Perhaps you value a traditional selvage. Perhaps you are looking for a certain finish on your cloth. Perhaps you want a more traditional/historic color palette, as opposed to the typical modern/ancient. Could be any number of reasons.

So, by calling this line of kilts "Heirloom" I am emphasizing all of the advantages to having your cloth custom woven for your kilt beyond the obvious one, which is that you can have a tartan that is normally not available elsewhere.

Regarding those kilts in the "standard" category, I have also broken that down further according to the woolen mill supplying the tartan. In the past, all of my "stock tartan" kilts have been priced the same. Again, the advantage to that is the simplicity of it, and it has worked well for me. But the reality is that some tartan cloth is more expensive than others. This meant in the past that I was making more or less money on kilts made, depending on where I obtained the cloth. Now, I have broken my price schedule down according to the different mills and cloth ranges, making the pricing system a bit more complicated, but in the end more fair.

Also, my clients have always had the option of specifying which mill they wanted to weave their cloth, if they had the desire to do so. But this was not really obvious from the way I had my web site set up. Now I've made it more obvious, allowing for my clients to specify the exact fabric they want for their kilt.

To aid in all this, you'll find a lot more information on my web site comparing the cloth from one mill to another, including information about the way the cloth is woven, the selvage of the cloth, the range of tartans from each woolen mill, the width the cloth is woven at, etc.

As an example, here is a comparison summary page for each range of kilts:
http://newhousehighland.com/compare.html

And here is a page showing the differences in the selvages from each mill:
http://newhousehighland.com/selvage.html

I'm still working on the site upgrade. As I said, I will be working next on the knitwear section. I was able over the winter break from university to get the bulk of the kilt section done rather quickly, but it may take me a while more yet to get the knitwear section full upgraded.

If anyone notices any errors or bugs please let me know.

Thanks!

[JRB]

Wow! I'm very impressed, Matt. Your updated site looks fantastic and is very informative and user friendly.

[creagdhubh]

Very well done, as always, Matt! Brilliant!

[JSFMACLJR]

Matt,
I was looking at your website yesterday, and was most impressed by the options of cloth available for the "heirloom kilts." I can hardly call myself an expert on tartan, so enjoyed greatly learning about teasle raised cloth.

Well done!

Cheers,
Sandy

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt,
I was looking at your website yesterday, and was most impressed by the options of cloth available for the "heirloom kilts." I can hardly call myself an expert on tartan, so enjoyed greatly learning about teasle raised cloth.

Well done!

Cheers,
Sandy

I have a dried teasle sitting on a shelf in my bedroom that was given to me at Johnston's of Elgin during my last visit there. I think it's fantastic that this product of mother nature is still being used even with our relatively modern production techniques.

I also have a length of my own New House Highland tartan on order in the teasle raised finish that I cannot wait to get in. Half of it will be turned into a waistcoat for me, and the other half perhaps a new shawl for my wife.

[McMurdo]

Looks good so far Matt, if I see anything strange I will let you know.

[Father Bill]

Beautiful work, Matt!

[JRB]

Matt, would you mind describing the Nevis cloth in a bit more detail? I'm very intrigued because of the stain resistant treatment. Is it available in only one weight? Is it made the same as other tartan cloth but for the stain resistance? How does the treatment affect the look and hand of the cloth? Does it breath less than untreated wool? etc. I'd love to know more about it as I've never heard of it before. Perhaps you could put more info about it on your site. Thanks.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Matt, would you mind describing the Nevis cloth in a bit more detail? I'm very intrigued because of the stain resistant treatment. Is it available in only one weight? Is it made the same as other tartan cloth but for the stain resistance? How does the treatment affect the look and hand of the cloth? Does it breath less than untreated wool? etc. I'd love to know more about it as I've never heard of it before. Perhaps you could put more info about it on your site. Thanks.

Well, I've only made a few kilts from it for clients, and I have never worn one myself. But from what I can tell, it differs from House of Edgar's normal heavy weight range by the following:

- it is woven 54" wide rather than the 30" width of HoE's normal heavy weight.
- it is woven with a tuck selvage rather than a traditional woven selvage
- it is treated to be stain resistant.

Yes, it only comes in heavy weight. And I honestly could not feel any difference in the cloth in terms of the stain resistant coating when I was making the kilts.

[Steve of Lansing]

Matt,

I like the new setup, however there is one thing I'd change.

The picture of yourself, up at the top in the banner looks like you either have a migraine headache or just sat on something sharp.

Outside of that, great job on this. Very intuitive and easy on the eyes.

5 stars, -Steve

Oh, one more thing. About the teasle, are they the seed pods from thistles? Seems like I've seen them in the wild here in Michigan, but I can't quite remember where.