What did a kilt cost in 1960, 1970, 1980 etc?

[Alan H]

OK Alan, that means my father-in-law's kilt costing $15.14 in 1950 would now cost $130.38 in 2007. That seems an even better deal to me.

Fifteen bucks for a kilt? Did he buy it used? Was it wartime surplus?

[Phil]

Fifteen bucks for a kilt? Did he buy it used? Was it wartime surplus?

It most certainly was not - a brand new kilt made by a gentleman's outfitters here in Scotland. I don't have a scanner or I would post their Invoice.

[Alan H]

It most certainly was not - a brand new kilt made by a gentleman's outfitters here in Scotland. I don't have a scanner or I would post their Invoice.

Wow....just wow. I can't imagine how they pulled that off, even in 1950. It still had to take 20 hours to make, they still had to mark it up a few dollars. That means the kiltmaker make something like fifty cents an hour.

[Monkey@Arms]

OK Alan, that means my father-in-law's kilt costing $15.14 in 1950 would now cost $130.38 in 2007. That seems an even better deal to me.

Perhaps not. According to http://www.measuringworth.com/ppower...ar_result=2007 the equivalent amount for £7:15 in 1950 is £191.35 in 2007, which comes out to $383.

Best regards,

Jake

[Nanook]

OK Alan, that means my father-in-law's kilt costing $15.14 in 1950 would now cost $130.38 in 2007. That seems an even better deal to me.

First of all: 1 pound was pegged at $4.03 USD. Earnings in the UK in 1950s was significantly lower than the US. That 7 GBP was a good weeks wage, I think, of the average UK worker. Average weekly earnings today is, I think, on the order of 500 GBP in the UK. On the other hand, by contrast, one should look at the price of technical goods in the 1950s such as cameras. A Voigtlaender Vito or Balda rangefinder cost over 20 pounds. Even a simple basic camera-- including many box cameras--- was often more than that 7 GBP. Better more status oriented cameras such as those from Leica, Zeiss or Minox could cost more than a months earnings for a higher paid manager or civil servant (such as the mayor of a town). At the other extreme look at the price of UK property. The standard of living in the UK was low. Even before the war the UK standard was below that of much of central Europe. In 1950 few in the UK owned a motorcar. Few owned even a fridge--- really only mainstream decades later. Books, sweets and beer, on the other hand, were cheap..... fish was generally fried in lard and food was of a poor grade-- albeit an improvement over the war years.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Here's another inflation calcultor: http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html
According to Toms calculator, over that 35 year period of time that $250 kilt SHOULD cost $1287.09 just due to price increases from average inflation.

.........

$1327.90........ $1287.09 Whoah, NELLIE.

If you check out the cost of the most expensive kilts at Kinloch Anderson they range from about US$1000 to US$1200, which means an absolute top quality kilt is cheaper today than fifty years ago.

[Alan H]

The backside of this figure is the sobering thought that if all good quality kilts in fact DID cost $1,200....

then I for one wouldn't own one

and

the overwhelming majority of people on this board wouldn't own one. So let's be glad that they don't. All of a sudden a $400 - $450 kilt from Barb or Matt or Kathy Lare starts sounding a whole lot better.

BTW, Hamish's Kollection would be worth something like $100,000. *lol*

[Nick the DSM]

wow, they seem cheaper.

[Nanook]

If you check out the cost of the most expensive kilts at Kinloch Anderson they range from about US$1000 to US$1200, which means an absolute top quality kilt is cheaper today than fifty years ago.

They are indeed as "kilt" cheaper today. As I mentioned elsewhere a pair of bespoke trousers from a top tier U.S. tailor cost around $100 USD in the mid 1950s--- much more than a typical month's rent for a middle class urban flat. Suits and jackets were, of course, significantly more expensive. This was, however, hand designed and completely tailored using materials long gone and replaced by finer grade woolens using more rational production methods. Today's clothing (pants, jackets, kilts) not only use materials that are cheaper (due to automation and scale) but also put together using modern and rational assembly. Optimizing the cut one can save quite a few stitches and using fusing and machines one can save entire blocks of labour. The typical straps and buckles of kilts are not made locally but generally imported. A global consolidation of the textiles market (which always was global) has also moved a lot of production back into sweat shops (either domestic in basements or off-shore via "sub contractors"). How many of today's "Scottish made" jackets are not made of imported materials? Any hand stitches? All the ones I've seen have hardly any hand sewing and are glued together (fused). How many "hand sewn" kilts are still hand completely sewn? Most use perhaps Scottish milled tartans but where does the wool come from? The materials are more modern (compare the dyes of today's tartan with those from the 1950s, sheep have been breed to produce finer hair etc.) and made on sophisticated machines (lower labour costs)---- have a look at weave and selvage of today's Lochcarron compared to those of even a few years ago (today its finer and much more consistent). Automation has come to play a not insignificant role in textiles--- and keep in mind that today's PC as sold in the supermarket has significantly more number crunching power (instructions per second) than ALL the computers connected to the Internet in 1982 combined.

[Pleater]

Oh the heady days of 1970 - my wage was ten pounds a week, the rent was four pounds a week, and I ran a BSA 650 cc motorcycle combination and could fill the tank for under one pound.

I do look back fondly on the fish and chips which we had when I was young - the fish was landed fresh each day except Sunday - so the fish and chip shops were usually closed on Mondays because they did not use fish over one day dead. The potatoes were poured into devices which peeled them and then sliced them into chips or scollups - disks of potato, which were then dipped in batter and fried.

The fish chips etc were cooked and then put into heated holding areas to drain, so they really were not greasy when done properly. These days the oil cooked ones are far greasier, particulalry when cooked to order, as they have no draining time.

It is no wonder that I found no way to make and sell kilts - all the economics are against me!!