Dirk 81 ,

Welcome to XMarks , you will find there are many great vendors here and many great individual kiltmakers , they will all help guide you on your kilt . I think you have made a wise choice by asking the folks here on this forum .

In regards to some of your questions :

1. It should not be hard to get the measurements correct , you should be able to do quite well with measurements if you check out the tutorials on many of the vendor sites.

2. You said you don't want it to look cheap as it's not for every day use and what fabric to use . The answer there is to use a 16 oz fabric and order an 8 yd traditional kilt . The look , wear , feel , hang and swish of a full 8 yarder can't be beat , it's first rate all the way .

3. When choosing which mill to order from can be tricky as usonian stated , computer images only give you a general idea . If you know the tartan you want ( which you do ) , then order swatches from the mill or mills as usonian recommended . The bold or soft look of any tartan can vary from mill to mill , so if you have a prefernce , the best thing to do is see it in real life by means of the swatches .

I don't claim to be an expert by any means , but I hope this helps a wee bit .

Best to ya , Mike