Scottish National casual

[NewEnglander]

A couple months ago I took a half gallon jug full of coins in to be counted and came away with just about enough funds for a new kilt from USA Kilts. After sending away for some swatches (Black Watch, Scottish National and Buccleuch) I decided on the Scottish National and placed my order 3/31. Just last week (5/20), ahead of schedule and in the midst of Rocky's honeymoon, the new kilt arrived.
This is my second casual kilt from USAK and like the first it fits beautifully. The weight and feel of the PV is wonderful in the hot and humid weather we're having.

Here's a pic of the apron, though the colors may not be true due to camera, lighting and your monitor:


Here's a pic of the pleats:


This is the only bit where I'm a bit confused/disappointed. This might be my own ignorance about the art and mechanics of making a kilt, but the sett isn't centered on the rear of the kilt. I counted pleats and the rear belt loop is in the center of the kilt. It's not a huge deal and I might not have noticed if the tartan of the belt loop matched the portion of the sett it's attached to.


Is this just a function of getting my waist size and the tartan's sett to work together in a kilt? I know a lot of it just has to do with my issues with always wanting everything centered and even. As I said, the products and customer service Rocky, Kelly and Mac offer are beyond incredible. I'm just hoping someone can explain this one little thing to me.
I'll try to get a pic up of me actually wearing the kilt soon. I've been wearing it just about every evening when I get home and my fiancee has asked if my other kilts are feeling neglected.
Thanks again, USAK!

[RockyR]

With an 8 Yard Wool kilt, the maker starts the kilt at the center of the back, choosing a pivot point on the tartan for the center back pleat. From there, they work their way 1/2 way back to the front apron and 1/2 way forward to the under apron.

For our Casual Kilts (and Semi Traditionals and 5 Yarders for that matter), that's not how we do them. Sometimes the back center pleat ends up being a pivot point in the tartan. Sometimes, it ends up not. In this case, the center back fell right between 2 pivot points. Rather than put the belt loop 'off center' to the back of the kilt, it was put at dead center on the back.

Mac had chosen to use the red/white striped section of the tartan for the belt loops. Whether it matches up at the back or not (on a CASUAL kilt), we use the same part of the tartan for all 3 loops (which should always match up horizontally, but not always vertically). When you put a black belt through the loops, if all 3 weren't the same, it would stand out more.

I hope these answers help with your questions. Enjoy the kilt!

[NewEnglander]

Thanks, Rocky! I hesitated mentioning the centering and loop concerns in my post, unsure if it would have been better to put it in an email or PM to you (which you always respond to promptly). But I reckoned that you (or someone else with more wisdom than me) would chime in with an explanation that would be of help to other kilties in the future. I looked at my other casual again after I posted that and it, in MacPherson hunting, has a VERY different sett than the Scottish National.
Just this morning a buddy of mine contacted me about all things Scottish and kilts. He's got a brand new son who's named after a great-grandfather from Aberdeenshire and he's considering a kilt for himself and the wee lad. I passed on your info and offered him the use of one of my USAK casuals for an upcoming Highland Games we're attending. One (or two) more for the Rabble!
Yours aye,
-Eric-

[Slag101]

I do not want this to be taken out of context, or viewed as smack talk about a vendor in anyway. What I am about to say is personal opinion only, meaning MY OPINION!

I don't like that the belt loop is off from the rest of the set like that. It would bother me too. I feel there has to be a way to line it up nicer. I may be wrong, but how much of a difference would it have made to move it over to the left to match the set, or to use a piece of fabric that went with the area in the set that the loop was being placed?

I have not ordered from this company before, so i can not speak to there customer service, quality of products, etc. Having said this, I might be hesitant to make a purchase. I understand it is a CASUAL kilt, but it just looks like poor workmanship to me. I will admit I am very much OCD, so the details are very important to me, but the explanation of why seems weak.

[bricelythgoe]

I do not want this to be taken out of context, or viewed as smack talk about a vendor in anyway. What I am about to say is personal opinion only, meaning MY OPINION!

I don't like that the belt loop is off from the rest of the set like that. It would bother me too. I feel there has to be a way to line it up nicer. I may be wrong, but how much of a difference would it have made to move it over to the left to match the set, or to use a piece of fabric that went with the area in the set that the loop was being placed?

I have not ordered from this company before, so i can not speak to there customer service, quality of products, etc. Having said this, I might be hesitant to make a purchase. I understand it is a CASUAL kilt, but it just looks like poor workmanship to me. I will admit I am very much OCD, so the details are very important to me, but the explanation of why seems weak.

I agree with all points stated here. The kilt looks fantastic. That belt loop, however, just sticks out like a sore thumb.

[RockyR]

If the OP would like a different stripe on his belt loops, we'll gladly take the kilt back and replace them with whichever stripe he prefers (at our cost).

Aaron, I apologize if you believe I gave a 'weak' explanation. I gave a direct answer to the questions of a customer within 2 1/2 hours of posting which the OP seems to have understood. There is a bit of 'art' in making a kilt and also a bit of personal prefference / judgement on the part of the kiltmaker.

Since I am a obviously a bit biased about our quality and service, I'll let others speak to those points for me, should anyone care to.

[Geoff Withnell]

...

Since I am a obviously a bit biased about our quality and service, I'll let others speak to those points for me, should anyone care to.

I sure would. I own 3 USAK Casual PV kilts. I also own an Argyle jacket and waistcoat from USAK. The fit is excellent, and the workmanship and service were all I could want. I know from discussions both on the phone and in person that Rocky will do his level best to comply with customer preferences. My wife has been a professional dressmaker. According to her, kiltmaking is probably about the most complex of the tailoring arts. Your kiltmaker might not make the same choices you would, but if you are working with Rocky, chances are something can be worked out.

Geoff Withnell

[NewEnglander]

If the OP would like a different stripe on his belt loops, we'll gladly take the kilt back and replace them with whichever stripe he prefers (at our cost).

Thanks very much for the kind offer, Rocky. I'll do some thinking and then get in touch with you by PM or email.

If anyone else has one of Rocky's casual kilts in Scottish National, could you do me the favor of taking a quick pic of the back belt loop and either post it or send it to my by PM? It'll help soothe the OCD beast...

Again, my apologies for letting something as simple as a belt loop turn the review of a GREAT kilt into a critique of USAK. Thanks to all who have posted their thoughts on the matter and to Rocky for taking the time to speak up and help clear things up.

[Slag101]

Rocky and all,
I am not critiquing the level of service of the company, or the level of quality. I am not even disputing the level of customer satisfaction. Rocky, I do not doubt that you are an excellent businessman, as noted by your rapid response to the customer's post.

That being said, I say the following points:

1. I assume that you are not the kilt maker, but the one who sells the kilt. I would assume that you, being great at customer service, wanted to get the right answer for the customer from the source, and that your reply was based on his/her statement as to a reason why the belt loop was done as so.

2. Whomever answered the question that way was using a weak argument to justify something that myself, and I interpret the customer, found unappealing/unattractive about the product. I did not imply what was said as a falsehood or misrepresentation, just that their ("their" being who ever formulated the reason/solution) answer as to why was weak, in that there was probably a better and/or different way to address the issue of the belt loops while making the kilt.

3. I understand that kilt making is not an easy task, but it is not impossible to understand either. There is quite a lot of talent and ability needed to make a kilt, but with research, anyone can get the concept of how one is made, although not anyone can make a kilt. I am sure the kilt maker thought that this was the best solution, and no malice was intended.

4. As I had stated, even if the customer had not brought up the issue of the belt loops, I, being very detail oriented, would have noted it and not liked it. It looks off to my likings, and would steer me away from ordering a kilt from this company.

5. Rocky, I feel you have even more credibility since you not only tried to answer/resolve the customer's concerns in a more than reasonable amount of time, but you stepped up above and beyond by offering to fix the issue at your own expense. This shows real character and ethics. You also went even farther by addressing my statements/comments in a direct and concise way, while admitting to your own personal bias in this instance.

I would comfortably and confidently place an order with your company for anyone of many things in your product line, but I would be hesitant to order a kilt from you, without seeing further examples of your craftspeople's work. In fact, I may be ordering one of your children's sporrans soon for my son.

[RockyR]

Aaron,

I understand no malice was intended. I'll gladly repond to your post to clear up a few small points.

I am in fact one of the 3 kilt makers here. While many (dare I say most) kilt companies / retailers just purchase, mark up and re-sell someone else's work, we actually make our kilts in house. As we've grown, Mac (our empolyee who sits 8 feet from my desk) sews most of our Casual Kilts and Kelly and I sew the rest (5 Yarders, Premiers, Semi Trads, Mini Kilts). The explanation given in the above post was mine, coming as a kiltmaker and as the one who designed our Casual Kilt (yes, it's a different design from every other kilt out there for a few reasons which I don't need to go into here).

Please keep in mind, I'm not saying kiltmaking can't be understood, only that there's a bit of a personal 'touch' to how each kiltmaker creates their kilts. As a company that places customer service high on our 'to do' list, I have offered to replace the belt loops in question at our cost, if it doesn't appeal to the owner.

Would I have done it exactly how Mac did those loops? No, but I try not to micromanage his every move as he a very capable kiltmaker and micromanaging employees can get tedious and frankly, insulting to them. That being said, I did show him the pictures posted here and re-touched on the issue of belt loop placement for future kilts. He understood and all is right with the world.

I still believe that our Casual Kilt (beltloop 'question' not withstanding as we've offered to adjust the belt loops in question) is the most solid value of any kilt in the $110 pricepoint. It's a Made To Measure kilt (not off the rack), made from quality fabric, by an established company with a reasonable turnaround time. If you would like to see further examples of our work, we have a customer gallery on our site with a couple hundred pics and there are many of our customers up here who have pics of themselves in our kilts.

I also see that you're only a hop skip and a jump away from our shop (you're in NJ, we're just outside Philadelphia). If you'd like to see the kilts in person, please feel free to come to the store and peruse our racks to inspect the quality first hand.

Again, I know no malice was intended and I post this reply with no malice. I hope my answers help to clarify a few small points.