Buying Stories

[george7]

We all know it takes forever to receive your traditional kilt, or does it? Who's got really quick service, really slow service, bought one from a friend with the same dimensions...

[McMurdo]

Here is the link to the story of my last hand-sewn 8 yard kilt

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/1...853/index.html

[ardchoille]

I've purchased 7 tanks from The Scotland Yard and the delivery averages 7 weeks from order to doorstep. Some things are worth the wait and a tank falls perfectly into that category.

[Colin]

I happened to order at the right time and had been speaking to the company prior so they knew I was going to order, but I got a 16 oz 8 yard handsewn made to measure kilt in 9 days from Scotland. All the stars aligned to make that happen.

[Riverkilt]

I have my tenth hand sewn kilt coming from Kathy Lare. Her time has run about two to three months depending on the fabric and my place in line. She's a full time kiltmaker so her time in line seems shorter than the hand sewn kiltmakers who have other jobs and sew part time.

Of course she also sews for a lot of weddings and bands so sometimes the longer times come when there's a band in front of me.

But the current Kilt, the Antarctica tartan was ordered on April 3rd. She had a band order come in about when my material arrived so I had to wait a little longer than usual but the kilt was ready to ship to me May 31st. I asked her to hold the kilt at her shop until I get back from Maui. Would rather have the kilt safe with her than sitting in the post office. So there's a bit less than a two month turn around for a more difficult than usual fabric aquisition and a wait behind a band order.

Not putting anyone down - its easy to learn who the quality kiltmakers are by following this board. The "wait" time for a quality kiltmaker is going to be less if they make kilts full time rather than part time.

The other obvious fact is that the better kilt a kiltmaker makes the more folks are gonna be lined up to get one and the longer your wait. Again, plenty of examples of that phenomenon on this board.

But for a quality kilt that will last for generations a few weeks wait seems insignificant.

Remember, the marketplace offers you any two of price, service, or quality.

Ron
From Maui

[Ayin McFye]

I personally do not own a real tank yet. I own 7 kilts, and I'd like for my next one to be a tank. Speed of service will not be one of the deciding factors when I do decide to order it. I will be purchasing my kilt from a quality kilt maker, and if they tell me it's going to be 5 months, well then I'll wait 5 months. Some things in life need not be rushed, and a quality hand sewn 8 yard tank is one of them.

Same thing with pouring a Guinness. I don't want to go to a bar and order a Guinness if they pour it all in one motion. There needs to be a minute waiting after 1/2 the Guinness has been poured.

[george7]

Since I've asked... My two hand-made kilts: 13oz McGregor 7yd, and a 16oz Flower of Scotland 8yd.

The first, being my clan tartan, was custom tailored to me and took a bit over 3 months. The second kilt is my pipe band uniform, and I found it second-hand (almost new) online. It fits me better than my first, since I lost 2 inches waiting for my first kilt to arrive.

[JRB]

I purchased my first 8yd. tank from www.scotchcorner.com who sell kilts by Lochassynt. I believe the turn around was just under 8 weeks from the time I ordered to the time I was wearing my made to order kilt. I'd call that good service.

[Colin]

I personally do not own a real tank yet. I own 7 kilts, and I'd like for my next one to be a tank. Speed of service will not be one of the deciding factors when I do decide to order it. I will be purchasing my kilt from a quality kilt maker, and if they tell me it's going to be 5 months, well then I'll wait 5 months. Some things in life need not be rushed, and a quality hand sewn 8 yard tank is one of them.

Same thing with pouring a Guinness. I don't want to go to a bar and order a Guinness if they pour it all in one motion. There needs to be a minute waiting after 1/2 the Guinness has been poured.

Well said Ayin. All good things take time. I really lucked out when I got my first tank in the time I did, but I really did just order at the right moment (plus the wool was in stock). However I don't usually include waittime in my list of criteria when ordering anything. I can get a can of the cheapest beer in seconds, or I can wait for a perfectly poured Guinness. Quality is my number one condition even above price (save for).

[Howard Clark]

I've had one excellent experience with Barb T. Faster than expected, high quality kilt and service. I also have three box pleats from Matt, and had an excellent experience with each of those as well. Though there is a time between order and receive with hand sewn.

Can't speak to any others, yet.