Another Warning About Vendors

**Riverkilt** · 17th March 12, 09:38 AM

So I was all elated to find saffron (cinnamon) garter ties from House of Labhran....there's a thread on them.

I was amazed at the low price - including shipping from Scotland.

They arrived and looked beautiful and go well with my Irish themed kilts.

Then, when I went to wear them for the first time I could barely drag them around my legs. They work, but just barely with a stretch.

Wondering "What goes here?" I compared them to my garter ties from House of Cheviot and turns out the ones from House of Labhran are FOUR INCHES shorter....

There was no length specified on the HoL webpage and I didn't pay attention to that - and I know better.

Still baffles me why any merchant would offer products for sale without giving the size of the product - sporran vendors are probably the worst offenders but am seeing more and more sporrans with size given in the ads.

Now I know why the price was "low" - the goods were "less."

The game never ends....and if I let up my guard they take advantage of me without remorse.

I don't buy the fatter American argument - the HoC garter ties come from Scotland too.

I have lived, and I continue to learn.

At least they work...barely...

**jhockin** · 17th March 12, 09:50 AM

So: if the latest ones are 4" shorter, then they are about 32" long? ( as the HOC website says theirs are about 36" long).
I just tried out some home-made garters, yesterday; 39" long, and found them barely long enough, for my calves. I'll have to use a measuring tape to determine how long I need, for a minimum. Luckily, I used some material from my local fabric store, bought at 50% off the regular price, & I can use it for straps, on casual kilts - so, not a total loss, and a "learning experience", for me.

**artificer** · 17th March 12, 09:58 AM

Is this really a warning about vendors so much as a "I guess I just ASSUMED two different companies products would be identical, and didn't bother asking when I purchased"?

I'm not disagreeing with you that MORE information posted by retailers is helpful, but you can't really fault the vendor because you bought something without full knowledge of what it was you were buying.

I'm sure many people make the same mistake in reverse as well and feel frustrated that the HoC ties are way too long after they were used to HoL (and have smaller legs).

ith:

**Bugbear** · 17th March 12, 10:14 AM

What are you going to do about it, Ron?

I remember Rex Trimond sewing two pairs of garter ties together to make them long enough, but you only have one pair.

**rondo** · 17th March 12, 10:40 AM

This is why I went to the feed store and bought two 24" goat collars [black nylon] at $3.49/ea. They fit my calves, have a nice slender buckle, and a keeper for the collar end. I also dropped wearing flashes, without using garter ties the flashes seem like an unnecessary bother with no useful function.
Rondo

**Bugbear** · 17th March 12, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by rondo

This is why I went to the feed store and bought two 24" goat collars [black nylon] at $3.49/ea. They fit my calves, have a nice slender buckle, and a keeper for the collar end. I also dropped wearing flashes, without using garter ties the flashes seem like an unnecessary bother with no useful function.
Rondo

That's a good Idea.

A while back, I stopped using flashes too, and just used the band they were on.

**Riverkilt** · 17th March 12, 01:16 PM

My fault for sure - let the buyer beware.

Did take a ruler to them and the HoL are 32" as guessed. The HoC are 37"

I can use the 32" HoL - barely, so they work - wore them again today. Hopefully maybe somehow they'll stretch out a bit more with wear.

But its back to asking that vendors have the courtesy to include sizes in their descriptions of products when advertising them on line so that we can see our WIDELY varied bodies compare to the product size.

And, for sure, its my fault if I plunge ahead assuming or expecting something that's not documented.

What I do about it, like with Duluth Trading Company that repeatedly sent me products diverse from their catalog description was to stop ordering from them and when their product catalog arrives in the mail I throw it away without looking through it.

In the case of this HoL garter it works barely so I'll wear it and hopefully recall the lesson learned.

**mookien** · 17th March 12, 02:03 PM

I suggest you send a note to Tim at The House of Labhran at the address

houseoflabhran@gmail.com

He is very accommodating and may very well be able to help you out.

By the way, I'm pretty sure your garters will stretch out a bit, hopefully enough to let you wear them.

See my next post for some related details.

**ForresterModern** · 17th March 12, 02:23 PM

Ron

You could always cut each one in half and insert some form of spacer fabric to get the overall length you seek. Might even consider putting in some elastic to get a little extra stretch. It is all going to be hidden under your hose top turnover anyway, as long as the joining is not too bulky. Would save you the repetitive frustration inherent in wearing something you are not just quite happy with but do not want to do away with. Just a thought.

**mookien** · 17th March 12, 02:28 PM

I recently bought a pair of patterned-topped hose from the STM made by the House of Cheviot (HofC). While the garters sold by the STM are about 36" long (also from the HofC), those that came with the patterned-topped hose were only about 30" long!?

Naturally, but to my surprise, when I tried to tie them I could not reproduce the results shown in Matt's excellent video on tying garters, which can be seen at

http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/garter_ties.html

If you go to the HofC web page at

http://www.scottishkilthose.com/trad...l_garters.html

you will see the statement ...

"Standard length is approximately 36" but custom lengths can be accomodated to fit your needs."

Apparently, while the default length of HofC garters is about 36" long, the ones that come with their hose (patterned-top, anyway) are shorter.

My story has a happy ending, because I was able to squeeze them on with a bit of stretching, and apparently as a result, they are now a bit over 31" long. And, they now fit!

I would like to thank Matt for his help in resolving the above described "problem". Based on the above statement from the HofC, in the future I will ask if the garter length can be accommodated to fit my needs.