Kiltmaker Wage

[Jock Scot]

Wondering if the price of handsewn kilts has changed over the years, I looked at the kilt prices in vintage catalogues and used value calculators to try to figure out what those prices mean in today's pounds and dollars.

It's complicated. You get a variety of values according to what you use, the relative value of currencies, the "labour value", and others.

So the 1936 Lawrie catalogue has the 8 yard kilt (type of fabric not specified, probably Saxony) for £5.25 (decimalised) which labour value is £930 today.

The 1939 Paisley catalogue has the "heavy quality kilt" (that is, heavyweight worsted rather than Saxony) for £6.30 which labour value is £1,115 today.

The c1960 Tartan Gift Shop (Princes Street) catalogue has the "Saxony kilt" (probably 10oz) at £11.55 which labour value is £575 today.

The 1996 Scottish Shopper (Seattle WA) catalogue has a 7 yard Saxony (10oz) kilt for 475 USD which is around £890 today. (They've added the import duty and post from Scotland to Seattle in the price.)

A Geoffrey Tailor (Royal Mile) list from the around 2000 has their 8 yard handsewn 16oz worsted wool kilt at 590 USD which is £717 today.

What this tells me is that people looking for a bespoke traditional full-yardage heavyweight worsted wool handsewn kilt for a low price aren't in line with what kilts have always cost.

(The c1960 Tartan Gift Shop price is an anomaly as you see.)

Its always been thus. In my experience, if you want the best of anything----kilts, suits, shoes, shot guns, rifles, cars, furniture, watches, wine, saddles, fishing tackle and so on, then it costs..................... A LOT!

[Barb T]

If you take into account the fact that worsted is a much better quality and more expensive fabric than Saxony, OC's analysis shows that the cost of a bespoke kilt in today's dollars has actually gone down quite a lot over the past century. Today, if someone orders a bespoke wool tartan kilt, it will be made in worsted kilting tartan. I might have missed it, but I can't remember seeing anyone advertising a Saxony option on the Internet.

[OC Richard]

Yes the price has indeed gone down, as proportional to what the typical working person makes.

About Saxony, that's what jumped out to me more than anything, when I looked over old catalogues.

In the 1920s and 1930s the catalogues are recommending and assuming light-weight Saxony kilts for Evening Dress, and medium and heavy weight worsted kilts for field/outdoor dress.

Even in the 1970s and 1980s the Scottish Shopper in Seattle was listing light-weight Saxony as their standard kilting cloth both for by-the-yard fabric and finished kilts.

Indeed my first "real tartan" kilt, made by my Grandmother around 1976, was made from 10.5oz Saxony got from Scottish Shopper. I chatted with them over the phone, they recommended that weight.

It seems so odd to me now! Because now a 13oz kilt feels a bit on the light side, and I much prefer 16oz kilts.