New kilt from Kilts4less

[bodhran4me]

They may be in sewn in Scotland but the cloth may still be from offshore. Their customer service seems to be universally good but I have seen the product reviews as somewhat hit or miss. I do think their advertisements are dishonest when they state the items are ex-hire when in a large number of cases they are manufactured and 'upgraded' to a new item when the 'ex-hire' size you ordered was 'unavailable'.

[FossilHunter]

I emailed them this morning and they said that the jackets were made in UK from cloth woven in the UK.

My first kilt was from them and it had the construction issues at the waist that were mentioned earlier in the thread (excess material not removed). They would have taken it back but return shipping from the US would have approached the price I paid for it. I still have it.

That’s the reason I’m always leery of buying anything large/expensive from the UK. USAkilts has cheap, flat-rate shipping within the US.

[Wareyin]

Kilts4less kilts are made by Glenisla Kilts - I have two. The firm doesn't look very "pakistani" to me! And they've got a sale on just now.
https://www.facebook.com/glenislakiltsltd
https://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/bu...rade-1-3809246
https://www.kilts4less.com/?gclid=EA...SAAEgIk5fD_BwE


Alan

It appears that Kilts4less sells some bespoke kilts made by Glenisla Kilts, but I would guess that the "ex-hire" and other kilts for less than $200 are made elsewhere.

[McMurdo]

I had a great experience with them I ordered an Argyll jacket and waistcoat from them for my nephew's wedding. The turn around was 3 days from Glasgow to Toronto. The full story is here:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...wedding-91337/

Unfortunately the photos are on photo bucket so they are blurry so here are the photos

[OC Richard]

Your evidence for this is......?

Alan

With the caveat that I'm in the USA and only know Ms Sweeney's offerings via Ebay, what I've seen appears to be of non-UK make.

True that once in a blue moon a Sweeney outlet will have a few handsewn Scottish-made used kilts, but these represent only a tiny fraction of Sweeney's Ebay business.

About the standard Sweeney fare, here's an example I found in a couple clicks: a Pakistani/Indian kilt in faux-Isle Of Skye fabric. These kilts are the sort Ms Sweeney sells through a number of her firms. I know about them because I bought one to find out, listed as an ex-hire Spirit Of Scotland tartan kilt. It was neither: it was a new kilt, still with the tags, and the fabric was obviously of Indian or Pakistani manufacture, the set resembling Spirit Of Scotland but not exactly so. Ditto the workmanship which was typical of Sialkot kilts.

It's more obvious with Isle Of Skye, a tartan whose owner tries her best to protect. Compare the tartan here with the actual Isle Of Skye tartan; for one thing the warp and weft of the Indian/Pakistani fabric are quite different:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ex-Hire-Sco...J-7DmuKP_1c-sg

I follow kilts on Ebay daily, and I worked for a number of years at a Highland outfitter who carried Scottish-made kilts and jackets from House Of Edgar. At Highland Games here in the USA and at several Kilt Hire shops in Scotland and numerous other places over 40+ years I've looked at and handled hundreds of Scottish-made and Pakistani-made Highland Dress items, and my eye is pretty dialed in to various features, both subtle and obvious, which help distinguish the two.

With these kilts4less/tartan4less/exhirekilts etc kilts note the distinctive piece of leather forming a sort of belt loop, and the stamped straps. You can spot these a mile away, and I see them at every Highland Games piled high on tables.

To me, jackets, while often obvious, are sometimes a bit trickier to detect. Sometimes you have to feel the fabric. Other times there are visual clues.

A while back I was looking at an "ex-hire" Prince Charlie on Ebay being sold by one of the Sweeney outlets. It was claimed that the jacket was Scottish made. I asked to see a photo of the label. None was forthcoming.

Ms Sweeney does occasionally show a photo of a jacket label and the ones I've seen state ACS Clothing. They have a Glasgow warehouse with 10,000 kilts, which I seriously doubt are handsewn in Scotland.

Far more obvious is this kilts4less waistcoat, the two front panels being made of two different faux-Isle Of Skye tartans:



It should be obvious to anyone that this is not genuine Isle Of Skye fabric woven in the UK by one of the two mills authorized to weave it. The imitation of the tartan and the workmanship of the waistcoat are both horrendous.

On the other hand here's a kilt that looks like a legitimate handsewn kilt. The jacket's fabric is very nice-looking.

However the tailoring of the jacket has that strange boxy look I've seen hundreds of times with Sialkot-sewn jackets.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Flower-of-S...EAAOSwSwFdc8Bv

This jacket is claimed to be Scottish made but it has that very odd boxy shape; the sporran is almost entirely covered. Can anyone show a photo of a jacket shaped like this that carries a Made In The UK/Made In Scotland label?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Navy-Grey-T...dbNAiOzAVoQO-A

Just to acquaint our eye with what many Sialkot-made Argyll jackets look like, here's one direct from a Sialkot maker.

Note several things:

1) the high placement of the pocket flaps
2) the high/low/high placement of the buttons on the pocket flaps
3) the boxy shape to the front, not cut away to reveal the sporran
4) how long the body is in relation to the sleeve length
5) the odd way the padded shoulders stick out



Cf. an Argyll from Andrew Douglas; too bad the bottom button has been buttoned, ruining the flare of the jacket opening.

Notice all the elegant proportions.

[Karl R]

With the caveat that I'm in the USA and only know Ms Sweeney's offerings via Ebay, what I've seen appears to be of non-UK make.

I'm also in the USA. I own one Kilts4Less black barathea jacket. Other than that, I haven't personally seen/felt/whatever anything that was definitely of Kilts4Less origin.

At a glance, I can tell whether a jacket is cut for a kilt or not. My Argyll jacket is standard cut all of the way around. Pockets in the right place. Sleeve length to total length, right there. I haven't handled enough black barathea to know whether the wool feels right.* But on external visual appearance, they nailed it.

*About 30 years ago, I had to wear a suit to work every day. By feel/cost, the Kilts4Less black barathea jackets feel like a modest bargain, but not an absolute steal, for the price.

As for the Isle of Skye tartan on eBay ... I'm always skeptical of eBay photos.

I do photography as a hobby. Most of the people selling on eBay ... well ... they suck at photography. I just purchased a tweed jacket on eBay. The seller claimed it was blue. In their photo, it looked gray, without a touch of blue. When I threw it into one of my normal photo processing programs to color correct it, it looked blue-gray. Lovely shade. But I'm once again reminded that 95% of everybody doesn't know how to take a decent photo. (I once left a review stating that the product I received looked a lot nicer than the photograph they posted.)

That said, whomever works for Kilts4Less as a photographer (or more accurately, photo editor) should be taken out, tied to a stake, and shot at dawn. They also do some blatant (and lousy) Photoshopping.

I'm happy with the Argyll jacket & waistcoat I purchased from them. But if you're looking at their photos ... caveat emptor.

[neloon]

All of the products I've seen from these firms have been Pakistani,

I still say this is way too strong a statement. You have to understand that most bespoke Saxon tailoring in the UK is done by Asian ladies in Bradford ("the wool capital of the world") and that applies also to kilt Jackets, Prince Charlies etc. Not many kiltmakers would have the skills to make jackets and all the kiltmakers I know just quietly send your measurements to Bradford..
The Glenisla kilts seem to me to fulfill all the criteria laid down by Steve Ashton for a "properly made" kilt and, since they're good enough for the army, they're good enough for me. The OP was happy with his Clan Alba kilt so I guess others will just have to make up their own minds.

Alan

[Tomo]

So I now have my sticky mitts on the jacket and vest I purchased for kilts4less = it arrived PDQ - but I have been under the weather and missed the chance to wear it a recent travel expo promoting tours to Scotland.

Anyway - the jacket is Harris Tweed, so obviously the cloth is produced in Scotland. The cut and fit is much better than it appears in the photos (as others have perhaps K4L's photo editing isn't the best - although I also suspect that the jacket is a little large for the tailor's dummy so doesn't hang properly) - no problem at all with the cut-away for the sporran. The tweed is also much nicer in realty then the original photo's show - hopefully mine do it more justice.

On the flip side there are no labels showing were the jacket was tailored - could be Scotland, could be Bradford, could be anywhere. That said, my PC, black argyll and both of my other tweed jackets - all bought for traditional highland outfitters in Edinburgh and Scotland do not have "Made in Scotland" labels either - and neither do my 3 Harris Tweed sports jackets or my Crombie overcoat.

Bottom line is - I am happy with the product and what I paid for it. The service and speed of delivery was exemplary.

A couple of pics - sorry none of me wearing (yet):

[McMurdo]

That is a handsome tweed, looking forward to more photos when you can get them.