Hi BBQ

I think the answer to the cost issue is largely that the big kiltmaking houses don't pay their kiltmakers much. As Matt does, I charge $250 to make a kilt, plus the cost of the tartan. If I were to contract even with a shop in the US, they would not pay me $250 to make a kilt. I know free-lance kiltmakers in Scotland who are between a rock and a hard place - they would like to custom-make kilts directly for clients, because they make more, but they don't have a client base, so they wind up doing contract work for shops, but they don't make as much.

You also asked about standard vs custom sizes. Well, because kilts are not made from a pattern, it really doesn't matter. To lay out a kilt from three measurements (waist, hips, length) takes only a few minutes, because all you do is measure to chalk the apron edge profile (which you'd have to do even for a standard size) and mark where the pleats will be folded. For a complicated tartan, the latter can take some time the first time you deal with a given tartan, so I guess you could save some time there, but, frankly, I suppose you might save a half an hour at most by laying out a kilt in a tartan you'd done many times before. The rest you have to do anyway, whether it's custom or standard sizes.

Yeh, tartan is really expensive. I think I said this in another post, but part of the issue is loom set-up and labor. Take Lochcarron for instance. They weave well over 500 tartans in different weights, and they don't weave millions of yards of each. An indication of the cost of loom set-up and labor is that fact that double width and single width fabric are essentially the same price per yard (well, not quite, but it's surprisingly close). And the quality is just plain different from the wool fabric that you can buy at Joann Fabrics in the US (if you can even find wool nowadays). Many years ago, when I first learned how to make kilts, Joann's was still carrying the occasional bolt of wool tartan. I bought a nice piece at about $10/yard and made a kilt for my daughter (and won a blue ribbon at the New York State Fair!!). The kilt has held its shape well, but....it's a wool saxony, and it has a perpetual pilling and pressing problem. Scottish tartan is just a different animal - hard, smooth, non-pilling, and holds a great crease.

Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know!!

Barb