How to buy a kilt - the way it used to be done

[Troglodyte]

Although this film from the 1950s makes the kilt-buying process seem archaic, and a far cry from current trends of buying everything online with some suppliers promising same-day delivery, it serves to show what we have lost in the past 30 years or so. This kind of service has steadily died away over the past few decades.

What is seen in the film is no longer possible - there is now no native wool grown and processed commercially in Scotland. The nearest wool processing is south of the border in England, and a huge proportion of the fleeces sheared each year (and excellent quality it is too) costs more to shear than the fleece is worth, and it goes straight to land-fill.

At the same time, wool producers in the UK are importing fleeces from Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, with all the added cost of transport that entails, and the buying public make their purchases based on price. But you get what you pay for.

There are far too many people who hanker after Highland dress and other traditional Scottish items, but prefer to spend their money on artificial fibre items (PV kilts etc) and those things made and bought on cost rather than on quality. It is not that the Scottish-made items are obsolete - far from it - it is that there are cheaper, foreign-made copies.

Even a popular favourite like Marton Mills is an English company that weaves tartan (of a very high quality, like all their fabrics) in the weaving heartlands of Yorkshire, and Strathmore's cloth is a similar 'English' product that is woven nearby, which goes to show that Scots themselves are equally responsible for the demise of their domestic production.

Consequently, most of the age-old Scottish crafts are endangered, and are considered as in a critical position by the government - when the current artisans cease production, they will be gone for ever. So it is good that we can at least see from films like this one how it once was (and some of us fortunate enough to have experienced), and what it is we are losing.

[figheadair]

What is seen in the film is no longer possible - there is now no native wool grown and processed commercially in Scotland. The nearest wool processing is south of the border in England, and a huge proportion of the fleeces sheared each year (and excellent quality it is too) costs more to shear than the fleece is worth, and it goes straight to land-fill.

At the same time, wool producers in the UK are importing fleeces from Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, with all the added cost of transport that entails, and the buying public make their purchases based on price. But you get what you pay for.

Whilst, for economies of scale, all wool scouring is done in England, it is encouraging that the largest Scottish weaver is using Scottish wool for at least some of their tartan. https://ukft.org/lochcarron-scotland-pvjuly22/ Working with them for some special projects I have been impressed by the result of using yarn from this wool with a bespoke finish. The cloth has the feel of tartan from before the 1970s and is the best available for kilting in my opinion.

[OC Richard]

Thanks for that link! What a time-capsule.

Interesting to see the wearing of Day Dress without tie, the shirt collar open and sticking out. Was that a thing? I don't know if I've seen vintage photos showing it.

Everything else accords what I would expect from the period of "traditional Highland Dress"

-kilt with 7 yards (interwar catalogues generally offer kilts in 6, 7, or 8 yards)

-kilt in the "ancient" colours (which post-WWII can outnumber the number of "modern" tartans listed)

-brown sporran, black shoes

-hose in a common tweed-jacket colour

-red flashes regardless of tartan or hose, note flashes are from the traditional worsted wool tape

Some of the kiltmaking things are interesting, such as going straight down with a ruler when chalking the front-apron edge, while Elsie Stuehmeyer did it freehand and with a gentle curve.

Ditto the pinning and basting of the pleats- Elsie didn't do either, but stitched the pleats freehand.

It's funny how they leap from basting the pleats to the finished kilt! The stitching and cutting out the pleats, the lining, etc are skipped over.

I love the do's and don'ts chart! Interwar catalogues and articles are full of words like "proper" "correct" and "must", the very things that rile people on the internet these days.

[Troglodyte]

Thanks for that link! What a time-capsule.

Interesting to see the wearing of Day Dress without tie, the shirt collar open and sticking out. Was that a thing? I don't know if I've seen vintage photos showing it.

Everything else accords what I would expect from the period of "traditional Highland Dress"

-kilt with 7 yards (interwar catalogues generally offer kilts in 6, 7, or 8 yards)

-kilt in the "ancient" colours (which post-WWII can outnumber the number of "modern" tartans listed)

-brown sporran, black shoes

-hose in a common tweed-jacket colour

-red flashes regardless of tartan or hose, note flashes are from the traditional worsted wool tape

Some of the kiltmaking things are interesting, such as going straight down with a ruler when chalking the front-apron edge, while Elsie Stuehmeyer did it freehand and with a gentle curve.

Ditto the pinning and basting of the pleats- Elsie didn't do either, but stitched the pleats freehand.

It's funny how they leap from basting the pleats to the finished kilt! The stitching and cutting out the pleats, the lining, etc are skipped over.

I love the do's and don'ts chart! Interwar catalogues and articles are full of words like "proper" "correct" and "must", the very things that rile people on the internet these days.

Shirt collars opened and laid over a jacket was most definitely a-la-mode in the 1950s - casual style before youth culture fashions of the '60s took over - so the look is normal for the student types in the film.

I like to see the weavers in their work-wear - of tweed jacket and chalkstripe flannels, and, again, open-neck shirt. Chalkstripe flannel is now only ever seen in Savile Row suits, and we think we are dressed-up smart when we put on tweeds these days.

National Service was at its height in the UK at the time of this film, which meant all men did a two-year stint in the Forces once they reached their 18th birthday. It is more than likely that the 'students' in the film will have done their service, and those that went into a kilted regiment will have learnt regimental kilting ways that got continued once back into civilian life.

The kilt made in the film looks rather modern to my eyes - there is little in the way of rise above the waist - but is well-suited to the casual way it is worn in the final scenes.

The reaction of the public in the street as our hero leaves the kiltmakers is interesting - they seem not to notice the kiltie striding-by, let alone his kilt. I find I get the same lack of interest today, which shows how Scotland's national dress is regarded in its homeland.

[Pleater]

One reason for the processing being done in England could be the water quality - the same reason my kilts survived, as the water in South Yorkshire is very 'soft', it lathers easily and doesn't form a scum with soap.
There was always a box of Lux soapflakes by the big sink, all the woollen things were washed with that, carefully dissolved in warm water then the cold tap run to bring the temperature down to just tepid.

I suspect that the inner part of the kilt was linen as it was slightly glossy - polished by decades of wear.
It had a new lining made from a pillowcase and sewn in rather badly - my mum wasn't at all handy with a needle, unlike her mother who was absolutely brilliant at all sorts of making and mending.

Anne the Pleater

[figheadair]

One reason for the processing being done in England could be the water quality

No, it's nothing to do with that and everything to do with economies of scale. Scouring is required for all grades of wool, not just that used for tartan in Scotland. There is simply not the market to justify establishing a Scouring Mill in Scotland.

[Jock Scot]

No, it's nothing to do with that and everything to do with economies of scale. Scouring is required for all grades of wool, not just that used for tartan in Scotland. There is simply not the market to justify establishing a Scouring Mill in Scotland.

Now that makes complete sense to me...........unfortunately.

[User]

...
What is seen in the film is no longer possible - there is now no native wool grown and processed commercially in Scotland.
...

I was confused by your statement, because Lochcarron uses Scottish wool for their Strome. I had to re-read it to realize I had glossed over the "and processed" portion.

Although processing is done in England, I do love Lochcarron's commitment to doing as much as possible in Scotland.

Although not all the wool we use can be sourced locally, we converted one of our top selling fabrics, our heavyweight Strome cloth, to being sourced completely within the UK, mainly from Scotland. Recently, we have completed this journey, and now source our Romney Marsh wool from Scottish-farmed sheep, allowing us to create our Strome cloth in 100% Scottish wool. In doing so we are supporting local farming and manufacturing, and our wool is sorted and graded locally at the British Wool depot in Selkirk, subsequently reducing transportation distances and emissions. Up to one quarter of the yarn we use annually is now of Scottish origin.

[Janner52]

Life was definitely slower in the 1950s, and people were better dressed. It would be unusual for a man to be out and about without a jacket and tie even in a manual work environment and I would imagine that the kilt would have been in evidence at some workplaces and definitely in schools.
I wouldn’t want to return to those dress standards but I do believe we may have gone too in the opposite direction.

[Troglodyte]

I was confused by your statement, because Lochcarron uses Scottish wool for their Strome. I had to re-read it to realize I had glossed over the "and processed" portion.

Although processing is done in England, I do love Lochcarron's commitment to doing as much as possible in Scotland.

I am involved with a musuem that has Scottish traditions as its raison d'etre, and encouraging handicrafts such as knitting and weaving is a main feature.

It is impossible to find in practical quantities wool or yarn that is truly Scottish - that is grown, processed and finished in Scotland. There are still weavers and spinners operating on a commercial scale, but they grudgingly admit thier wool is imported or processed outside Scotland.

Modern agricultural practices are partly to blame, as the old breeds have been replaced with those suited to ease of care and meat-yield, which is at the expense of the fleece quality and suitability for the wool-trade. It also demonstrates the hugely successful marketing of the Antipodean producers.

What Lochcarron is doing for Scottish wool is highly commendable, but much more is needed to save both the remains of the domestic wool industry and the breeds of sheep whose fleeces gave the distinctive character to the old cloths. But Scotland is not alone in this, as this is a UK-wide situation, and is even wider than that.

Consequently, every time someone buys a PV kilt, or foreign-made jacket or sporran - indeed, any item of Highland dress made outside Scotland - I see it as them are knocking another nail into the coffin of Scottish culture and tradition.