Checkered Kilt Hose Etiquette?

[James MacMillan]

The upside is that if you buy from a reputable source, you will be getting a very fine quality product that will last a very long time -- and that's the real definition of "frugal!"

Matt, I beg to differ, Frugal 1. Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources. See Synonyms at sparing.
2. Costing little; inexpensive: a frugal lunch.

Buying expensive things can never be called frugal. Wise? maybe. Smart? maybe. Regardless of the quality, a frugal person would never spend a lot of money on something he could do without.

[Phil]

This firm based in Ireland makes tartan and diced hose. I have not dealt with them but they have been on the go for a number of years and I believe they are reputable. The prices look about average so no real bargains there though.
http://www.kilkeelknitwear.com/new_page_26.htm

Kenneth Short I have dealt with and can recommend them. My hose (picture below) are theirs and I can vouch for the quality.

[Pleater]

So Sam Vimes' thoughts on boots are not current on the forum?

Samuel Vimes is the character on Discworld (a literary creation of Terry Pratchett) in charge of the city of Ankh Morpork Night Watch.

He points out that when a poor man needs boots he buys a pair for ten dollars, which begin to let in the water after a few months. In a year they are worn out and he has to buy another pair for another ten dollars.

When a rich man needs boots he buys a pair for fifty dollars which keep out the water and last a long time.

So, ten years down the line, the poor man has spent twice as much as the rich man on boots, and he still has wet feet.

I still have socks made from the yarn I knitted up when I was a teenager - I have learned to make better socks and so remade the old yarn into new socks, but the yarn had Nylon, was expensive by the standards of the time, but it is still good fourty years later.

[fluter]

I still have socks made from the yarn I knitted up when I was a teenager - ... the yarn had Nylon, was expensive by the standards of the time, but it is still good fourty years later.

Brava, pleater! now, that's frugal.

I'm dusting off my needles and thinking about some garter ties & finishing a scarf that's been languishing in my closet. Then I want to learn (cue ominous music) socks.

But I may try to commission some tartan hose from one of the young folks who knit; thus practicing economy and supporting education, which I'd also consider frugal.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I think all too often we are tempted to confuse "frugal" with "cheap." Frugality is really about spending your money wisely. My Webster's Collegiate defines frugal as "characterized by reflecting economy in the expenditure of resources." The definition of economy Webster's gives that seems most fitting here is "efficient use of material resources." In other words, it is about being efficient. Spending $60 on a cheap pair of Argyle hose that you are going to be unhappy with, or that will wear out with only a few wearings, may indeed by "cheap" but it is not frugal -- it is not an efficient expenditure of your resources, in other words. Whereas spending $150 or $200 on a good quality product that may indeed last your lifetime if cared for, is a much more frugal expenditure.

I recently came across this quote attributed to American president William McKinley, which I am considering framing and hanging in our gift shop!
“I do not prize the word 'cheap.' It is not a badge of honor. It is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country.”

[Daaaaang]

I recently came across this quote attributed to American president William McKinley, which I am considering framing and hanging in our gift shop!
“I do not prize the word 'cheap.' It is not a badge of honor. It is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country.”

I hope customers don't take it the wrong way, all with it hanging in a store

[Clockwork John]

[QUOTE=Pleater;464818]So Sam Vimes' thoughts on boots are not current on the forum?

Samuel Vimes is the character on Discworld (a literary creation of Terry Pratchett) in charge of the city of Ankh Morpork Night Watch.

He points out that when a poor man needs boots he buys a pair for ten dollars, which begin to let in the water after a few months. In a year they are worn out and he has to buy another pair for another ten dollars.

When a rich man needs boots he buys a pair for fifty dollars which keep out the water and last a long time.

So, ten years down the line, the poor man has spent twice as much as the rich man on boots, and he still has wet feet.
QUOTE]

I know this thread is about hose, but since someone brough it up...

Here are my thoughts on boots and frugality:

I've been through several pairs of cheap boots. They might last a year if I go easy on them. But most people, myself included, don't wear boots to go easy on them.

Roughly eight years ago, I was given a pair of steel-toed Doc Martens. With a price tag of $130 retail, they were far outside of my price range at the time, and truth be told, they still are.

After eight years of daily wear, I have finally worn them into the ground. The soles are worn slick and no longer provide any traction on any surface, and the leather has finally given out and cracked.

I'm thinking that eight years of wear warrants the $130 investment for another pair. So I started myself a boot fund. I took an empty jar and started tossing all my change in it, plus a few dollars here and there as I could afford it. I had about $50 saved up, with the promise of a retroactive raise at work, so I started shopping for boots.

I found DMs online (not the exact style I wanted but close enough) for $79 shipped. I was all set to buy myself a pair when my wife let it slip that I was getting a pair for Christmas that she had purchased at that incredibly low price.

So now I'm looking at (hopefully) another eight years of boot wear, at a cost of roughly half of retail.

I'd say that hunting for a quality product at an affordable price is pretty darn frugal. Maybe not cheap, but definitely prudent,wise, and frugal.

And that $50 in a jar has been relabeled "kilt fund."

[Jack Daw]

I forgot that I have visual aids. My red-and-off white castellated are featured to the far left. I was a judge at the Houston Highland Games' shortbread contest.

[fluter]

Phil, those hose are very bonny, indeed! (applause and cheers) Nice to see you about the forum again.

Matt, thanks for the additional info.

Matt, I beg to differ, Frugal 1. Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources. ...
a frugal person would never spend a lot of money on something he could do without.

Jay, by your own definition, I will differ. While I've been known to pinch a penny (I'll show you my 28-year old truck some day), your definition 1 says nothing to being miserly.

To me, it rather suggests the thoughtful direction of one's resources where they will do the most good. Economy is NOT meanness, OK?

Back to my truck, I spent a bit more than some would have budgeted when I purchased it. However that was 1979 and it's still my daily driver. Is that frugal enough for you? BTW major repairs have been less than half the purchase price, and a small fraction of replacement cost.

I will cheerfully spend $48 on a pair of plain Lewis kilt hose (I have 3 pairs, and my budget projections include more). They will last for years, and every time I put them on you can almost hear my feet give a sigh of bliss. My daily socks are thick, luxurious Merino wool---some folks would throw up their hands at the price, but I consider it both canny and frugal to buy them in packs of 2 or 3 pairs when the price is "right." And their cost is about the same as some of the cotton hose at Sock Dreams; which, as noted elsewhere, I'd not put on if I had to wear them all day. Your feet may vary.

[James MacMillan]

Another saying that comes to mind:

Use it up;
Wear it out;
Make it do;
or do without.

Sure if the poor man could buy a better pair of boots he would. Being able to afford things or not, has little to do with being frugal. In five years he has spent the same amount the the rich man has spent once. But the poor man didn't have the price of the expensive boots in the first place! What's he supposed to do? Go barefoot? Poor people are seldom, if ever called frugal.

Miserly and frugal are two different things.