Scotweb - Advice on buying

[Riverkilt]

You don't say where on the Planet you are located. I'm guessing the UK...??

If so, I would suggest contacting a member of the Traditional Kiltmakers Guild and dealing direct. They have the same access to mill fabric as middlemen. You will be measured by the person making your kilt. They are full time kiltmakers. They will be a real person, not a contracted kiltmaker. Chances of errors and delays are much fewer dealing direct.

The Traditional Kiltmaker's Guild website is being upgraded. Can't hurt to email them and ask for the nearest kiltmaker to you. INFO@TRADITIONALKILTMAKERSGUILD.CO.UK

If you are on another part of the Planet, the same advice applies. Find a kiltmaker to work directly with. Middlemen suppliers are fine for most things Scottish - IF - their service is proven...easily searched out on this forum.

But to have a hand sewn kilt in your family tartan done for your wedding you want it done right and done on time. Best way to insure that happening is to work with an experienced local/regional kiltmaker.

Let us know where you are if you're not in the UK. If you aren't then Google up a kiltmaker or ask us.

And, welcome.

Ron
Who's known Welsh lines are Bowen and Lewis...the later were coal miners.

[MartinW]

Yes, I am from the UK....and a trip to Scotland is not out of the question if it means I get good quality and a well fitted kilt.

Thanks for the advice on the kiltmakers guild I will certainly look that one up...

Cheers

[Nick Fiddes]

If so, I would suggest contacting a member of the Traditional Kiltmakers Guild and dealing direct. They have the same access to mill fabric as middlemen. You will be measured by the person making your kilt. They are full time kiltmakers. They will be a real person, not a contracted kiltmaker. Chances of errors and delays are much fewer dealing direct.

Speaking as a mere non-real person ;-) ... I'm obviously coming from a somewhat biased viewpoint, but I believe you'll be very lucky indeed if you can find an independent kiltmaker who can source every tartan that we can. We have over 16,000 tartan fabrics on our site now, and will weave any rare tartan to order for a single kilt. We've made a huge investment over several years in pulling together a list of tartans that even the larger companies can't come close to, let alone most individual kiltmakers.

Also, I would argue that for an event like a wedding, there is an obvious risk when dealing with a solitary kiltmaker of a delay due to illness or other factors, which is far less of a problem with us. Provided we know the date of the event, we always aim to allow enough margin for error so that if an unforeseen crisis occurs we can put an emergency backup plan into action. In extreme circumstances we can source replacement fabric and by shuffling our schedules get a top quality hand-made kilt produced to heirloom standards in a few days. And if necessary we'd do so at our own expense to meet a deadline like this, had we been let down by factors outwith our control. So my humble view is that we are on balance a safer option than going it alone.

But then I'm biased! :-)