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

[Pleater]

In the mid 1950s I wore kilts, I had two, leather straps, fastening on the right, rather long on a 5 to 6 year old.
They were quite old when I got them - but I suspect that if the straps had been replaced it would not have been at all obvious.
My sister point blank refused to wear them and I suspect they were passed on to a cousin, but I do wonder just how old they were, (I suspect over 20 years) and how long they lasted.
Whilst I had them they were washed by hand - I suspect that one encounter with hot water in a washing machine would have ruined them beyond recovery, but back then many garments were woollen and my mother used to wash items by hand in the evenings, leave them to drain overnight and then lay them out on a towel to dry.

Many traditional garment had long lives - English smocks, for instance, were often handed down for a couple of generations or more in the case of children's sized ones. Wool, linen and cotton are long lasting, hard wearing, and were mended or reworked with little thought of it being 'just not the thing'.

Anne the Pleater