Your Experience with Sandy St. James?

[Clayton]

Hi all! I'm new to the forums... haven't gotten around to making my introduction yet, but in the meantime, I'm wondering if any of you have ordered a kilt from Sandy St. James. I have to forfeit my band kilt (currently in university, so it has been difficult to keep up with the piping—I totally understand where the band manager is coming from), and, unfortunately, that is my only kilt. I'm looking for a high quality eight yard 16 oz kilt at an affordable price. Sandy seems to fit the bill.

Is he still around? Do any of you have photos of his kilts that I could take a look at before placing an order? I hear he's a bit tough to get in contact with and his kilts take a while to arrive, but at $360, you can't really beat the price. From what I've seen, the kilts are decent.

I'm looking at making a special request to get the Armstrong tartan. I don't have much Scottish heritage, so I just picked one I really liked. On that note, what do you folks think it would look like to have the Armstrong kilt pleated to the red stripe? I'm a bit torn. The kilt I'm giving up is Gordon pleated to the yellow (and I think it looks sharp), but I know Gordon is one of the more amenable tartans for "pleating to the stripe." Just looking for some other opinions.

Thanks!

[Father Bill]

Welcome to the "Great Rabble!"

Don't forget to say "Hi" again, in the Newbie forum. You'll be pleased at the response you'll get.

[Clayton]

Thanks! I'll head over there soon. This seems like a great group of people.

[creagdhubh]

Welcome aboard, Clayton!

I think pleating a kilt in the Armstrong tartan to the red line/stripe would look very smart; something a wee bit different too, since you tend to see a lot of Gordon tartan, pleated to the yellow line/stripe, out and about (not that there is anything wrong with that!), especially with some solo-pipers and pipe bands. I particularly like the Armstrong tartan in the lighter hue of the 'ancient' colour scheme, but the darker variant is rather smart too. The Armstrong tartan in either 'weathered' or reproduction colours (the latter from D.C. Dalgliesh) would look quite lovely too. Perhaps some of our resident kilt-makers will chime in to talk further of your preferred choice of pleating with the Armstrong sett.

Armstrong tartan in the ancient colour scheme from Lochcarron Strome (heavyweight range).


Armstrong tartan in the modern colour scheme from Lochcarron Strome (heavyweight range).


Best wishes,

[jhockin]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Sandy+St.+James+%2B+kiltmaker

[Clayton]

Appreciate the cheek, jhockin, but Google doesn't yield too much. So far, I've only seen one photo of a kilt from Sandy. I just want to learn as much as I can before I shell out 400 bucks.

[sydnie7]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Sandy+St.+James+%2B+kiltmaker

One result is this thread. . . personally I'd look elsewhere but at least you are looking/able to make an informed decision.

[Macman]

Clayton, I heartily recommend John at Keltoi (see the link at the top of the page). He is in Ontario and does fantastic work.

[creagdhubh]

Clayton,

There are many fine kilt-makers on this forum, but I can personally recommend Barbara Tewksbury. Her work is just divine.

Cheers,

[Clayton]

Thanks for all your advice, but I don't know if I have the budget for some of these suggestions... even though people like Barb and Bonnie both do beautiful work.

I'm now devoting some research to Tartanweb. I know a member here had a bad experience, but I don't think one incident should speak for the record of the entire business. It looks like they make quality kilts at a quality price.