Do kilts hold their value and what to buy next?

[OC Richard]

I’ve heard of that book before but I doubt it’s something I’d do anytime soon, is it possible to buy cheap tartan and give it to a kilt maker though?

I'm trying to figure out what "cheap tartan" would be.

If you're talking about Pakistani fabric, it's just not suited for making the sort of kilt that a good traditional kiltmaker would make.

I don't think any kiltmaker worth their salt would agree to use such stuff.

It would be like hiring a good builder to make an extension to your house, but insist they use warped rotten flimsy wood.

Tat goes with tat, and quality goes with quality: tat tartan and crude machine-sewing for a tat kilt, legitimate UK-woven kilting fabric and traditional hand-stitching for a quality kilt.

[Pleater]

Having made quite a few kilts for myself now I discovered one major consideration which is not often mentioned is that a kilt needs to have some strong underpinnings in order to remain wearable.
I have used fabrics more fragile than the good quality wools usually employed, and learned to add in a little ease to take the strain off the outer layer so the fell doesn't become stretched or damaged and the aprons don't start to look threadbare.
It takes some time and wear, but wool is malleable and will eventually distort.

If having a kilt made, you need to find someone who will create a sturdy enough structure to hold the weight of the kilt, and when making for yourself you need to factor in the purchase of the lining and canvas, and the fastenings - up to three buckles and straps, or a minimum of two fastenings, and the time to get a good fit plus constructing and attaching the layers.

I have seen one Welsh cilt where there was no strengthening material and if held up to the light there were tiny holes beside every stitch in the fell. It had stretched under the strain of just a few wearings, but the supposedly professional maker maintained that his work was up to normal standards.

If you can get shirts of an old fashioned length and style then underwear is far more optional when when wearing a modern short shirt. My dad's mother was a Wilson and some of her ancestors were 'cleared' off their land. She made almost everything he wore up until he was called up for service in the '39-45, which was the first time he'd had underpants.

Anne the Pleater

[OC Richard]

Exactly so, traditional kilts are made with an internal "stabiliser", a piece of canvas (which has no stretch to it) going inside the area where the pleats are stitched.

There's canvas lining which is anchored to the places where the buckles and straps attach so that the stress is taken by the canvas, not by the wool.

If you don't have that the wool keeps stretching and stretching the more the kilt is worn.

[Troglodyte]

My recent frustrations with Pakistani import has left me wanting a genuine Scottish kilt, i know a few makers and it seems the price varies wildly, ideally I’d like something I can enjoy for the rest of my life, that my kids can and their kids etc, but I’d also want something that expensive to hold its value, my family are all about investing and being frugal so even though I have the money, they strongly advise me not to spend £700 on a kinloch Anderson kilt, I mean I’d love to, I’d have a luxury car too, but I have parents to keep happy and I’m not ready at the moment to move out, and honestly I was risking it buying a kilt in the first place, if I spent £700 on a kilt behind their back would it keep its value?

They tell me not to spend more than £100 on a kilt, how much can I get for that money? I want to avoid used for obvious reasons but clearance is fine, I also want to avoid non-trad and American makes due to post brexit import costs.

I’d also like Irish county tartans if possible, as my grandmom was born in county Wexford.

I think your recent experiences have been a lesson in caution - and is a reminder that you only get what you pay for.

I did a quick scan of Tartanista products, and my own experience is that a top-quality pre-owned kilt can be had for about the same kind of outlay.

Once you have a clear idea of the size you need (waist, hip and length from top of waistband to botom of the kilt) you can go through a process of elimination in your search. Your choice of tartan may be clan-associated, but that is not essential - just get what you fancy.

I understand your budget restraints, but there is no obligation to have a bespoke-made kilt to get you going. If you allow yourself somewhere around the £100 mark, you ought to strike lucky fairly soon. As an example, my clan wears Black Watch as a hunting tartan, and I managed to buy (from eBay) an unused ex-army kilt for £28, which I sent to my my nephew who was just then hunting for one. A bargain by anyone's standard.

Ministry of Tartan is a Scotland-based retailer of used Highland dress items (including kilts) and usually has a good selection on offer - http://www.ministryoftartan.com/second-hand-kilts. And there are plenty of others in the UK doing similar things.

Charity shops in the UK often have kilts and other items for sale (which they will promote on eBay) at very reasonable prices. I checked-out my local Red Cross charit shop in Banchory yesterday, and they had just taken two rails' worth of jackets, kilts and belts for sale at about the price of a new Tartanista kilt.

Spending £700 on a bespoke-made kilt is well-worth the investment, if you can justify the cost - of which about 75% will be the cost of materials alone. The rest of the price is the 'fee' for the kiltmaker's skill and expertise, and the retailer's service. You will get the perfect fit, and in a tartan of your choice - and it will last more than a lifetime, which is why so many kilts make it to the second-hand market. You have to look at the cost in terms of value for getting exactly what you want, not as an investment.

Think of buying a kilt in the way you would buy a car. Going to to a dealer and specifying model, engine, trim level, etc, comes at a price, but you get exactly what you want. But, at the same time, there may be just the same thing on the used-car forecourt, low mileage and excelent condition, for half the price. It's effectively the same car, and you would be driving it on the same roads.

As with cars, the cost to you for a new kilt is not what you could expect to sell it for. So advice would be to get more kilt-wearing experience before taking the bespoke option. Visit a proper Highland dress outfitter to get measured and fitted so that it is comfortable, and use that advice to track down a pre-worn kilt at a more affordble price. The bespoke option will always be there for when you are ready.

Most men in the UK (including those in Scotland) only have the one kilt, which might only be worn a few occasions each year, such as Hogmanay or Burns' Night, so the wear-and-tear of a used kilt is astonishingly low. Most kilts you find will be 'like new' in condition.

So do not be put off by the 'used' status.

Also, Highland dress retialers (such as McCalls who have branches across Scotland) have a hire department which they renew each season, and clear out their 'worn' stock. This is usually immaculate, and at reasonable prices, too.

[AmateurKiltsmen]

I think your recent experiences have been a lesson in caution - and is a reminder that you only get what you pay for.

I did a quick scan of Tartanista products, and my own experience is that a top-quality pre-owned kilt can be had for about the same kind of outlay.

Once you have a clear idea of the size you need (waist, hip and length from top of waistband to botom of the kilt) you can go through a process of elimination in your search. Your choice of tartan may be clan-associated, but that is not essential - just get what you fancy.

I understand your budget restraints, but there is no obligation to have a bespoke-made kilt to get you going. If you allow yourself somewhere around the £100 mark, you ought to strike lucky fairly soon. As an example, my clan wears Black Watch as a hunting tartan, and I managed to buy (from eBay) an unused ex-army kilt for £28, which I sent to my my nephew who was just then hunting for one. A bargain by anyone's standard.

Ministry of Tartan is a Scotland-based retailer of used Highland dress items (including kilts) and usually has a good selection on offer - http://www.ministryoftartan.com/second-hand-kilts. And there are plenty of others in the UK doing similar things.

Charity shops in the UK often have kilts and other items for sale (which they will promote on eBay) at very reasonable prices. I checked-out my local Red Cross charit shop in Banchory yesterday, and they had just taken two rails' worth of jackets, kilts and belts for sale at about the price of a new Tartanista kilt.

Spending £700 on a bespoke-made kilt is well-worth the investment, if you can justify the cost - of which about 75% will be the cost of materials alone. The rest of the price is the 'fee' for the kiltmaker's skill and expertise, and the retailer's service. You will get the perfect fit, and in a tartan of your choice - and it will last more than a lifetime, which is why so many kilts make it to the second-hand market. You have to look at the cost in terms of value for getting exactly what you want, not as an investment.

Think of buying a kilt in the way you would buy a car. Going to to a dealer and specifying model, engine, trim level, etc, comes at a price, but you get exactly what you want. But, at the same time, there may be just the same thing on the used-car forecourt, low mileage and excelent condition, for half the price. It's effectively the same car, and you would be driving it on the same roads.

As with cars, the cost to you for a new kilt is not what you could expect to sell it for. So advice would be to get more kilt-wearing experience before taking the bespoke option. Visit a proper Highland dress outfitter to get measured and fitted so that it is comfortable, and use that advice to track down a pre-worn kilt at a more affordble price. The bespoke option will always be there for when you are ready.

Most men in the UK (including those in Scotland) only have the one kilt, which might only be worn a few occasions each year, such as Hogmanay or Burns' Night, so the wear-and-tear of a used kilt is astonishingly low. Most kilts you find will be 'like new' in condition.

So do not be put off by the 'used' status.

Also, Highland dress retialers (such as McCalls who have branches across Scotland) have a hire department which they renew each season, and clear out their 'worn' stock. This is usually immaculate, and at reasonable prices, too.

Thanks for the help, funny you mention black watch because it’s one of my favourites despite its history, that being said don’t expect a recommendation of milsurp to someone who is an odd size to be of any help, I spent a long time looking for a really common military piece in my size and between people accusing me of impersonating, calling me fat and surplus shops refusing to tell me when/if they’d get one in and trying to make me pay sky high prices, even the MoD were of no help! In the end I took it to a tailor, I love milsurp but I’d rather not deal with that toxic community ever again.

I’ve also never found a kilt in a charity shop, someone even once told me my military piece is a “common charity shop item” neither is true or at least not where I live, I was lucky enough to find a battle dress once, picked it up, realised it was sized for a 12 yr old kid and put it back.

Are Kilts4Less any good?