There's also a lot to be said for getting your feet wet. I really do want a hand stitched heavyweight 8 yarder, and a nice Argyll jacket, and a bitchin' formal sporran (I really, really want sealskin, and I'll find a way to get one by hook or by crook). That being said, it's just not in my budget just now, I'm hoping by the end of the year. So I got my feet wet with a couple Stillwaters and a Scottish 5 yarder. I know, I know, for what I spent on the kilts I've got now I probably could have had a tank, but for me it's a lot easier to put out some small bites spaced out a bit than save up for one biggie. As it is I have 3 worsted wool kilts and I'm wearing them fairly often, and by the time of my wedding in December I'll have the custom package. By then I'll have been kilted for nearly a year and I wouldn't have been able to do it without Stillwater. I probably have very little need for full formal anything, but with what I've got I can dress up pretty snazzy indeed, and I've got some pretty good variety. I am a wool fanatic and like the wool kilts waaaay better than the one stillwater PV I have, and I am really looking forward to a tank, but the others do have their place.

I guess what I'm getting at is that for a beginner a wool stillwater or a machine stitched wool 5 yarder is a pretty good place to start. Best to start anywhere than sit around wishing for something you just can't swing. The only hard part is to actually quit buying for a while now and start saving up for a tank and formal accessories, there's still so many kilts out there I'd like to have.