I'm not even sure where to being with this so, I'll jump right in by agreeing with Big Mikey in saying that the folks at Freedom Kilts are a class act!
As soon as Steve Ashton posted about possible kilt shirts I knew I had to have one. It didn't take me long to order. It did however take a fair bit of time to arrive. That being said, I still stand by the "class act" statement above because Steve (and Bobbie) kept me well informed of delays and offered me many options for a speedier shirt. It was my decision to wait and get exactly what I wanted.......
A kilt shirt with:
-blue body
-white French cuffs, white collar
-one left chest pocket
-the FK logo on it, in blue, for that classy tone-on-tone look
and here it is
pretty cool huh? Let me tell you why I love it so much.
First of all it friggin fits!! I don't know if you guys are at all like me, but I find often when I go to buy shirts...if they fit my body, the sleeves are miles to long, or it fits in the body, but the armpits are all baggy. Whatever, my mother sometimes tells me I'm wearing a "tent" not a shirt.
After putting this on, she asked me if I lost weight because the shirt made me look thinner.
here it is on, sans kilt
Some details
Fabric- the fabric itself is really nice. It's a lightweight fabric that is going to be fantastic to wear in the summer. It has a sort of a loose knubbly hand to it.
Remember when I said that "heritage hose" were aptly named? Well this shirt will compliment those hose very well. An almost rustic look.
you can sort of see it in this pic here.
Reinforcement- You know how most clothing is made stronger at the stress points by bar tacking? Well FK goes one step further and adds a neat little fabric patch. There's on each cuff and one at the end of the button plackett. Is it just me or do they sorta look like little Saltires??
Embelishment- So Mikey had knots embroidered on his cuffs. I too wanted something embroidered on mine. I went with the FK logo, just over the chest pocket. It's a bit hard to see as it's the exact same color as the shirt. Sooooo subtle and very classy.
Here's what it looks like with my workman's on. I think this shirt instantly makes my old UK instantly respectable.
The shirt reaches down to about midthigh and will
never come untucked. Also, if you happened to be sensitive to your kilt's fabric this shirt will fix that problem. As well, you might find you get a few extra days wear out of your kilts before laundering them as this will keep skin and body oils off your pleats.
I really think that these kilt shirts are awesome and will likely get another made as soon as my budget will allow. Luckily Steve was kind enough to send swatches of the other available colors.
The black really is as black it looked in Mikey's pics. You can also see a little card above that says something to the effect of "this shirt was custom made for Cloves..." Then it goes on to list the shirt specs. A neat touch. Not as detailed as a kilt passport, I think of this more like a baseball card. A baseball card i'd like to collect more of!
Conclusion
I can't wait to wear this shirt out in public. It's such a great blend of rustic simpleness and sophisticated elegance. It's exactly the kind of thing I love seeing.....something familiar but still pushing the edge of new design. Kudos to the FK crew for that.
Would I recomend? I sure as heck would! In thinking about it....I wonder why somebody hasn't thought of a custom kilt shirt before. If you'd spend a mint on a custom kilt, why wouldn't you spend not even a third of that on the perfect accessory??? As previously stated, I know I'll be purchasing another.
Changes? Additions? I'd like to see them offered in other colors, and other fabrics. More of those neutral non colors first. As far as fabrics go, my vote goes for a heavy flannel or chamois. Every felt one of those heavy chamois hunting shirts? Sooooooo soft. Now imagine that wrapped around your butt under your kilt on a cool day. It would be nice eh?
Hope my review helps. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.
Linear Mode
