Are there any kilt makers in the UK which stand above others in quality?

[OC Richard]

You can get a very nice kilt from USA kilts.

I've had two kilts made by a Glasgow company called St. Kilda Kilts, and I think they're both very nice as well.

I've been told that the two biggest USA kilt places, USA Kilts and J. Higgins, machine sew the pleats even on their top-of-the-line kilts.

There are no visible stitches, and you have to look really close to see that they're not hand-stitched.

The method is to machine-sew each pleat of the reverse side, then flip it over.

About St Kilda Kilts, it's one of the subsidiary firms of St Kilda Holdings Ltd.

They're a Glasgow umbrella firm under which are

-Gaelic Themes Ltd

-St Kilda Kilts (AKA St Kilda Store)

-R G Hardie & Co

-Peter Henderson

Gaelic Themes Ltd is their Highland outfitter branch, they make (or have made for them) kilts, kilt jackets, sporrans, hose, etc. From time to time when a firm goes out of business Gaelic Themes acquires them, for example in 2005 they acquired Carrick Jewellery. https://gaelicthemes.com/

St Kilda Kilts (or St Kilda Store) is their online retail shop. They used to have a brick & mortar shop, now closed, near St George's Cross in Glasgow (the Underground station). https://stkildastore.com/?gad_source...hoCa9YQAvD_BwE

As far as I know the Gaelic Themes/St Kilda kilts, like those of USA Kilts and J. Higgins, are all machine sewn. The ones I've seen are, at least.

RG Hardie and Peter Henderson are former pipemaking firms which went out of business years ago. St Kilda Holdings acquired the rights to revive their firm names, which are used for St Kilda Holdings' pipemaking branch. https://rghardiebagpipes.com/