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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Falling markets and the effect/affect to the kilt.

    Hey guys,

    Just wondering if the recent uprise in kilts is going to come to a close in the near future, or if you think it will.
    Reasons being,
    Falling economy in Canada and the US
    The fall of the dollar
    blah blah blah.

    I know many people will be ok if a recession hits, but am wondering how the kilt will do? I like that more people are wearing them. I even seen a dude wearing a sarong (sp?) at a sushi house today. Let the kilt live I say. How do you gents of greater experience see the kilt living in the next year or 3?

    Cheers

  2. #2
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    Not a gent - but I have been making clothes for 50 years - I started by dressing my dolls, and one of them sits on the bookcase even now.

    The change in the economy might actually benefit the wearer of quality garments as the attitude to garments which are bought and worn for a few months then discarded, changes.

    There might even be a reduction in the availability of such garments as the Tiger economies need to grow just to survive. A figure of 8 percentage points of growth per annum seems to be the survival level, and below that an implosion would begin, faster or slower depending on how far below 8 the level of production falls.

    Just as the family recently fallen on hard times eats better as the freezer is being emptied of all the more expensive items being kept for special occasions, as cheaper clothes wear out and are not replaced, kilts might become more common out on the streets as they become the last smart thing on the wardrobe rail.

    Also, if people are unemployed or on a short working week they might decide to try kilt making to pass the time, and take their minds off their problems. There might also be the need to stand out, a hope that 'the one in the kilt' might get someone's attention.

    There was a program on TV recently about the advertising man - David Ogilvy who would wear a kilt to stand out from the crowd and be memorable.

    Although buying kilts might be less common, the same pressure to economise might bring them out of the closet.

    Anne the Pleater

  3. #3
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    I would have to say as the kilt has survived to this day, that it will continue, however I do believe that most people will use it for special occasions only, as is the norm now many people will have one kilt, or perhaps rent one when it is needed. I will continue to wear mine.

  4. #4
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    In the 1930's we were told that the way to "bring the country out" of the Depression was to buy apples; in the 1950's, to buy cars; and now, to buy houses. "Whenever history repeats itself, the price goes up."

    I think we are already seeing a little softening in the price of quality kilts, mostly through specials on wool tartan. I hope this will benefit quality kiltmakers, not harm them. Theirs is a particularly admirable skill.

    .
    "No man is genuinely happy, married, who has to drink worse whiskey than he used to drink when he was single." ---- H. L. Mencken

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by McMurdo View Post
    I would have to say as the kilt has survived to this day, that it will continue, however I do believe that most people will use it for special occasions only, as is the norm now many people will have one kilt, or perhaps rent one when it is needed. I will continue to wear mine.
    I agree with Glen. Over the next few years there may be a downturn in the Kollection of kilts, but those of us who wear them now will continue to do so for three reasons: we have them, we have long worn them, and we are comfortable in them. Oh, and a fourth: for some of us there isn't much in the way of alternative, is there? Except the purchase of a short-lived new pair of pants, which we won't have to do because what we have now will last the rest of....

  6. #6
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    Predicting such is like predicting the direction of the stock market and the currency exchange rate - it really can't be done. All I can tell you is that when I was in Scotland just 4 months ago, the exchange rate was around $1.98/BP and today it's $1.48. Looks like NOW is a good time to buy a kilt (compared to 4 months ago)!

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Daw View Post
    Predicting such is like predicting the direction of the stock market and the currency exchange rate - it really can't be done. All I can tell you is that when I was in Scotland just 4 months ago, the exchange rate was around $1.98/BP and today it's $1.48. Looks like NOW is a good time to buy a kilt (compared to 4 months ago)!
    I'm really hesitant to say this because I split my life between Scotland and Canada, but I have to say: buy the tartan fabric in Scotland and have your kilt made by the best kilt-maker you can find in your own country.

    In other words, buy the highest quality raw material and retain talented craftspeople to make your kilt. The result will be support for the best mills in Scotland (and a guarantee of fine fabric for the future), and local artesans will soon have apprentices for our kilts yet to come.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by ThistleDown View Post
    I'm really hesitant to say this because I split my life between Scotland and Canada, but I have to say: buy the tartan fabric in Scotland and have your kilt made by the best kilt-maker you can find in your own country.

    In other words, buy the highest quality raw material and retain talented craftspeople to make your kilt. The result will be support for the best mills in Scotland (and a guarantee of fine fabric for the future), and local artesans will soon have apprentices for our kilts yet to come.
    Two words: Kathy Lare.

  9. #9
    macwilkin is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Daw View Post
    Two words: Kathy Lare.
    Also Matt Newsome and Barb Tewkesbury.

    T.

  10. #10
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    I know that VAT isn't charged on exports but the reduction from 17.5% to 15% for domestic purchases might have a slight effect over here.

    However a saving of £2.50 per hundred pounds of pre tax value isn't going to have a massive effect on making kilts cheaper really.
    [B][COLOR="Red"][SIZE="1"]Reverend Earl Trefor the Sublunary of Kesslington under Ox, Venerable Lord Trefor the Unhyphenated of Much Bottom, Sir Trefor the Corpulent of Leighton in the Bucket, Viscount Mcclef the Portable of Kirkby Overblow.

    Cymru, Yr Alban, Iwerddon, Cernyw, Ynys Manau a Lydaw am byth! Yng Nghiltiau Ynghyd!
    (Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Isle of Man and Brittany forever - united in the Kilts!)[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B]

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