The Kilt in Crisis

[Downix]

Indirectly, the article is speaking more of the democratization of the Kilt. Less of the old-school traditional kiltmakers due to the rise of the new-fashioned economy, thrifty and urban kilts.

There will always be space for the traditional kiltmaker, so this is not a bad thing. In fact, in the long term, it will be a very good thing.

[MacBean]

I just re-read the article. My, made in Scotland, hand stitched, 16oz, tank cost £300. 200-250 of those is £60,000 to £75,000 per annum. If it is true then why aren't more people doing it? Half of that is considered a very good income!

Maybe a pinch of salt required?

Regards

Chas

Sounds reasonable to me. About half the price goes towards fabric and supplies. Then the retailer gets their bit (50%?). As we've revealed here before, kilt makers do it for love, not for money. Maybe that's why we like them so much!

[rtc872]

I just re-read the article. My, made in Scotland, hand stitched, 16oz, tank cost £300. 200-250 of those is £60,000 to £75,000 per annum. If it is true then why aren't more people doing it? Half of that is considered a very good income!

Maybe a pinch of salt required?

Regards

Chas

It took more than a pinch I am afraid. Think how much of that £300 is material. Add on top of that the cost of maintaining a business and think about the hours put into making that kilt. My guess would be an ultimate income of around £20 000 to £25 000. Mind that isnt bad but it isnt a great wage either.

[Riverkilt]

Nice to see the mention of Keith Kilt School. They seem to be the bastion of traditional kiltmaking.

http://www.scottishlifemagazine.com/...sterpieces.htm

The Keith Kilt School is the school that grants the Scottish Vocational Qualification in kiltmaking. The full course graduates of that school who received the SVQ formed the Traditional Kilmakers Guild and used to have a website. Doesn't seem to be up any longer. If I remember correctly there were about two dozen members of that guild when their website was up.

My kiltmaker attended the full course and received the SVQ. From her reports it was a challenging school and the SVQ hard won. That may be why so few are entering the profession hand sewing kilts in the traditional manner.

[Urchurdan]

The cheapest kilt I have bought hand made from our local Scottish kiltmaker was £350.00. and worth every penny.
I don't think the really good kilt makers are in any trouble, they will always have plenty of work. Quality always shines through.
A good analagy are the pubs here, when the ban on smoking in public places came into being, the poor Pubs quickly went to the wall, but the good pubs are doing fine.
Likewise with the bespoke kilt makers, I believe the 'good' ones are thriving, the ones who were a bit below par, have lost out to the cheaper imported kiltmakers.
As I already said, Quality workmanship will always prevail.

[The Wizard of BC]

I find it interesting that the article states that there may be less than 10 Traditional Kiltmakers left in Scotland.

I think there are more than 10 right here on X Marks.

[Jaggy thistle]

There are bound to be more than 10 kiltmakers in Scotland Ican think of 5 right now and that is just in my area

[English Bloke]

Don't believe everything you read in the papers.

[Jimmy]

Certainly if the Sunday Herald report is true, then I would think that it is quite worrying that there is so few genuine kiltmakers in Scotland.
Like many people I have 2 fairly expensive kilts, traditionally made by Scottish kiltmakers but I have several other cheaper kilts that I wear far more frequently than the expensive kilts
I always want my expensive kilts to look their best when I wear them at some formal event, for less formal wear I wear the cheaper version, for example, this Friday in the pub watching Scotland versus the Czech Republic.
So here is a situation where you have so many more people wanting to wear the kilt but cannot afford the enormous expense of a formal outfit or even a made to measure kilt itself.
Is it possible that the rise in the popularity of the kilt is down to the ease in which a person can purchase a kilt?, I know that I have several friends all with kilts, but of the cheaper version.

I don't think the popularity is to do with famous people like Alan Cummings wearing the kilt, my own thoughts on his kilt outfit was embarassing, perhaps someone like Sean Connery has been a great ambassador for kilt wearing.

I was out for a meal last Saturday night at a local hotel, there was a wedding reception in the function suite and the public bar had about a dozen kilties from the reception in it. They were all immaculately dressed in formal highland wear, all looking great, (despite wearing the Glasgow Rangers tartan - which atually looks quite good, hope none of my fellow Celtic friends read this)
If we multiply the number of hired kilts that are hired from Scottish kilt hire shops alone throughout the wedding season, we must be talking about thousands of kilts and what is the shelf life of a hired kilt?

My point is there must still be a considerable kilt industry in Scotland alone to meet the demands of the wedding season, do you ever see a wedding in Scotland without a group of kilties ( just thinking what is the correct description of a group of kilties - swarm, school, shoal - has anyone comeup with a suitable name/

[Barb T]

One of the reasons that I wrote The Art of Kiltmaking (and why Matt and I wrote the box pleat supplmement) was to make it possible for others to learn one of the methods of traditional kiltmaking so that the tradition would not be lost and die away as some traditional/guild crafts have.

I can say confidently that there are now kiltmakers (many of them on XMarks, and many in North America) who learned traditionally kiltmaking from The Art of Kiltmaking and now make very high quality kilts.

And it's why I am so willing to be so open about kiltmaking here on Xmarks - it shouldn't be something that is a closely guarded secret known only to those in a guild who have the secret wink, nod, and handshake.