St. Kilda/Gaelic Themes/Scottishtartanstore

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm going to second what Rocky said and perhaps expand on it just a bit for our members.

OK, first of all, I'm a strange person. As some here may have noticed I am not a very good salesman. I have tried in the past to sell products made by someone else I just can't do it very well. It's just a weird trait of mine. If I offer something in my shop I made it or I personally know who did. I may not have met the person face to face but in almost every case I have spoken to them on the phone, via Skype, or exchanged multiple emails with them.
I guess this stems from two things. First, if something goes wrong I want to be able to speak to the person who made it to get it fixed. And second is that I am a maker. I appreciate the work of others who also create stuff. I like talking to them and getting to know them.

Now, a little background for our members. On my first business trip to Scotland I guess I was a proverbial "Babe in the woods" I guess I was expecting to meet the people who actually made the products I was thinking of carrying in my shop.
Much to my surprise this was not to be the case for many things that I was hoping to carry.

I remember meeting with one gentleman and being given a tour of his facility. I was introduced to the lady who stocked the racks and the lady who shipped product out. I was then shown the room where six guys were sitting in front of computers running the website.
But there was no manufacturing going on at all. This company, with one of the largest presences on the web, did not actually make anything themselves. They simply gathered together products from all over the world and sold them.
It was a masterful business plan. It probably took years to set up all the contacts and many hours per day to manage all the paperwork it took to keep this operation going.

I had just come two days before from another company where I was handed the actual mold from which the X Marks Crests are made. I saw just down the hall was the bagpipe factory with lathes and drill presses.
The difference was amazing to me. And it really opened my eyes to the reality of highland wear.

A few days later I walked, almost unannounced, into perhaps the largest maker of highland wear jackets in the UK. This was a teeny tiny shop tucked into a residential section of town.
Five people working in a shop half the size of my production room where two work. There were jackets of every size shape style and color piled everywhere. I saw one pile with an entire 80 person pipe bands jackets.
And I also noticed that there were bins on the wall with tags for over a dozen retail shops waiting to be sewn into jackets.
Just about every major retail shop I knew of at the time was represented by those bins of tags.

And then it finally sunk in when I visited perhaps the largest weaver of Tartan fabric in the world. During the factory tour you pass down a hall where the story of the fabric is detailed in photos and maps. If you think your Scottish Woven Tartan wool is made from Scottish grown sheep --- Well, sorry to bust your bubble. Most of the wool used in this factory is from sheep raised in Australia and New Zealand. Then the raw wool is transported all over the world. It is cleaned and fulled in one country, Spun into yarn in another country, Dyed in yet another, finally arriving at the weaving mill in Scotland where the actual fabric is woven. And this story of international travel does not stop there. The fabric still needs finishing, prepping, and any special treatment like brushing which is sometimes done in yet another country.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not casting aspersions on anyone nor am I belittling any company. What I'm trying to get across to you is that who made a particular item is not the most important thing. You being satisfied with the quality and price of a particular item you paid your hard earned dollars for is far more important than the name on the label in the jacket you just bought.

It is a fact in today's world that the chances that the product you buy is made 100% in any one country is very slim. Don't sweat it.
It is also a fact that there are very few places in the world that make kilt jackets. We all buy from the same few makers regardless who's label is sewn inside it.

If you are really interested in seeing one of the guys who actually make the Gaelic Themes jackets, if it is that important to you to know the maker, I can post a couple of photos from a few years ago.

[tky58]

Excellent explanation, Steve.

Well I guess this begs this question...
The rabble, myself included, seems to make such a fuss of Scottish vs US/Canadian vs Pakistani made products. If everything is so internationally sourced, is there really much a difference outside a handmade tank by such as Barbara or Matt or you?

Steve Wilson

[tky58]

Let me add something to this. My aunt used to sew ties for a living, many years ago. She told me she would sew the same basic tie for almost all labels, from Walmart/Kmart to Cardin/Polo...

My point is I look at the material & stitching when I buy a tie and less so the label.

I would like to think what I have available to buy in a suit or a kilt has more latitude in quality for price.

Steve

[KiltFitz]

If you are really interested in seeing one of the guys who actually make the Gaelic Themes jackets, if it is that important to you to know the maker, I can post a couple of photos from a few years ago.

I'd be interested in those photos and the details Steve, if you don't mind posting.

[The Wizard of BC]

This first photo is Scot Chalmers and myself at Gaelic Themes. We are holding the actual mold that is used to make our X Marks Crest.



As you can see this is not some fancy showroom but a working factory.


A few days later found us in Selkirk where we were treated to a tour of the Lochcarron weaving mill.
As you can see in this photo Lochcarron has a large and impressive showroom.



And in the next building is the weaving plant itself.

If you have not visited a weaving mill you may not realize what you are seeing in this photo.



There are 36 computer controlled, high speed rapier looms in this one room.

All these looms and all these people have one goal. To keep these shelves stocked to await the next order from an X Marker.



A few days later I was able to visit with Duncan at Marton Mills.



Not as fancy or modern as Lochcarron but I found the same care and pride in producing a quality product at Marton Mills.

If you have never seen Tartan being woven up close here is just one loom.
If you look close you can see the 'finger which lifts the yarns creating the tuck selvedge near the center of the photo.



I was really lucky that this shot turned out because the large green box and the shiney metal arms move across the entire width of the fabric about twice a second.

Here it is on the opposite side of the fabric. This photo is the usual blur you get trying to photograph weaving.



About two and a half hours later I arrived at the jacket makers. I almost missed it as it is a small building tucked into a residential section of town.



When I try to describe this shop to people in N. America they simply cannot grasp the idea that every single jacket that carries all the labels we have talked about start with the jacket being drawn by hand by one brother. (He is a true cutter and does not use patterns.) It is then passed to the second brother.



And all the finishing is done in this one small room.



It is actually hard for N. Americans to believe that this is the site of one of the largest kilt jacket makers in the entire UK.


And finally I would like to share one finally photo taken during my two days we took the train into Edinburgh..
Here is Howie Nicklesby and myself. We found Howie's shop only to be met with a sign on the door saying he was out.
We found another shop keeper who directed us to the Pub down the street.



I am not as impressed with fancy showrooms as I am with noisy, busy factories. And sales pitches which promise the moon and stars for the lowest price on the web turn me right off.

Let me meet and talk to a maker any day.

[Dughlas mor]

Thanks so much, Steve. Terrific photos and great insight into the industry.

[OC Richard]

That is all very interesting Steve! Love the brilliant sun, the cargo shorts, the flip-flops, which make me think of here in California rather than Britain.

About Lochcarron, my wife and I visited there in 1986, and then it was the old-school looms clanging away hammer and tongs.

I will say this, about the Gaelic Themes tweed Argyll jackets. Their own site doesn't have clear photos, but McCarthy's site does

http://www.mccarthyhighland.com/inde...t_detail&p=421

and the jackets pictured are different from the Gaelic Themes tweed Argyll I bought a few years ago in one very curious manner: the jacket I got had the outer two of the three horn buttons on the pocket flaps placed at the top, rather than arranged towards the bottom of the flap as is usual. In other words the three buttons went top bottom top.

Why this is so curious is that I've seen a number of tweed Argylls made in the Indian Subcontinent that had this precise feature, to the point that I reckoned that this feature was indicative of some particular Pakistani or Indian maker. This being so, and it looking odd anyhow, I moved those outer buttons down to their normal positions. That jacket had no label anywhere which indicated where it was made. Yes it had a "Gaelic Themes" label, but no "Made in Scotland" or "Made in the UK" label. Sorry I don't have a 'before' photo of it, before I corrected the button positions.

Another interesting thing was the Gaelic Themes ex-hire Hunting sporran I picked up a few years ago. While it was mostly leather, the binding or edging around the whole sporran was obviously some sort of imitation-leather vinyl. It is the only sporran I've ever seen like that.

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, what can I say OCRichard, except that all I have reported is what I saw with my own eyes.

Is it possible that things were different 30 years ago when you visited? Sure, and probably very likely.

Of course I would expect that the Gaelic Themes website that you would see would be less than that what would be presented on a retail website. As I am one of their commercial accounts my experience is just a bit different. They have always provided any details and information I have asked of them. Including the country of manufacture if I asked for it.

I'm just one who does not just accept the advertising hype. I go see for myself. I did get to meet with those who make the products offered by Gaelic Themes that I have presented. I also documented the trip to Scotland that these pictures came from in another thread. I can assure you that all these photos we taken in Scotland and elsewhere within the UK.

My experience with Gaelic Themes only goes back 12 years so you may be right. I am not a representative of Gaelic Themes, all I can say and report is what I have personally seen and experienced. For example, I have purchased over 1000 jackets from Gaelic Themes, of every style they offer, along with many they have made to my own design, and have never see the button placement you described. Have there been mistakes over the past 12 years? Well, yes, of course. But not once have they not corrected the mistake to my satisfaction.

Everything I have reported is correct and true to the best of my knowledge. I only offer it as my own personal experience.

[RockyR]

Well, what can I say OCRichard, except that all I have reported is what I saw with my own eyes.

Is it possible that things were different 30 years ago when you visited? Sure, and probably very likely.

Of course I would expect that the Gaelic Themes website that you would see would be less than that what would be presented on a retail website. As I am one of their commercial accounts my experience is just a bit different. They have always provided any details and information I have asked of them. Including the country of manufacture if I asked for it.

I'm just one who does not just accept the advertising hype. I go see for myself. I did get to meet with those who make the products offered by Gaelic Themes that I have presented. I also documented the trip to Scotland that these pictures came from in another thread. I can assure you that all these photos we taken in Scotland and elsewhere within the UK.

My experience with Gaelic Themes only goes back 12 years so you may be right. I am not a representative of Gaelic Themes, all I can say and report is what I have personally seen and experienced. For example, I have purchased over 1000 jackets from Gaelic Themes, of every style they offer, along with many they have made to my own design, and have never see the button placement you described. Have there been mistakes over the past 12 years? Well, yes, of course. But not once have they not corrected the mistake to my satisfaction.

Everything I have reported is correct and true to the best of my knowledge. I only offer it as my own personal experience.

Steve,

I have seen the same 'weird' button placement on GT jackets that Richard saw on RARE occasions on tweed jackets (happened about a dozen times in the 12+ years we've been buying from them). Some of GT's wholesale customers have specifically ASKED for that button placement, which is why I assume I got it on a couple of mine. I've asked them about it and they apologized for the placement and I just moved the buttons. No biggie.

I can verify that their tweed jackets are all made in the UK, so I have no doubt that the issue was a random mis-placement or a tailor putting buttons on mixing up what specs we got vs. another company. As for GT's labels - They ARE a bit inconsistent. I've just done a spot check of the tweed jackets in the shop. SOME have "Gaelic Themes" only on the tag, some have a newer tag that says "Gaelic Themes, Scotland". Others have "Gaelic Themes" with a little tag sewn beside it reading "100% wool, made in the UK, dry clean only". All have the same attention to detail and the same level of quality (to my discerning eye).

That being said, I still firmly believe that they were all made in their tailor's shop in the UK. I say this b/c I RARELY order 'stock specs' for my jackets for store inventory... I order 3 button fronts or braided epaulets or Crail cuffs (not their standard Argyll specs). These were all made individually to my specs and specifically for our shop. That's not typically how it's done in the far east or on the Indian Subcontinent. They tend to run through batches of things, all with the same specs to make it easier (hence the reason you only see kilts from Pakistan with a 24" length)

Please note... there is no defensiveness in my mind as I type this... just simply stating what I know.