Pricing???

[O'Callaghan]

In general, I'd expect to pay between $400 - $800 for an 8 yard kilt made in genuine 100% wool Scottish tartan. Within that range what you pay will depend on if it is made from light, medium or heavy weight wool, whether it is a stock tartan or a custom weave, what mill wove the cloth, what kilt maker is making the kilt, and whether the kilt is hand sewn, machine sewn, or a combination.

For a "casual" kilt, made from 100% wool Scottish Tartan, I'd expect to spend between $250 and $350, again depending on the weight of the wool, the specific maker, etc. Most all "casual" kilts will be machine sewn.

If you see a kilt for less than that (unless it is a good deal on a second-hand kilt), expect it to be made from a non-wool cloth, machine sewn, and probably imported from Asia.

Another telling factor is that most quality kilts are not going to be available to purchase off the rack at a Highland Games, but will be tailor made to your measurements from the tartan of your choice. The ones you see at many festival being sold off the rack again tend to be the cheaper Asian imports.

You can certainly get wool kilts for less than $250, although you will be looking at something off the peg, machine sewn and probably made in Pakistan. Stillwater have them for $122, for example, albeit in a very limited range of tartans and solid colours. You can also find something hand sewn, but non-wool and again probably made in Pakistan for even less, at KiltMart, for example, again with a very limited range of tartans. I don't think that Sportkilt have their kilts made in Asia, although they aren't wool or hand sewn, and they are definitely under $250.

So what Matt says is almost true, but not quite. That is, it doesn't have to be non-wool AND machine sewn AND Asian to be under $250, just at least one of the above.

As a matter of fact, one of my kilts was fully made to measure in Pakistan for only $30, so they don't have to be ready-to-wear either. True, it cost another $30 to have it mailed it to the US, it's machine sewn and it is not pure wool but some sort of blend of wool and acryllic. Also, it's solid black and the only other choice of fabric was Royal Stewart tartan. There's nothing atall wrong with the quality of the workmanship though, in fact it's a little embarassing to think that the person who made it must have been paid so little for so much time and skill. It was a one-off deal though, so maybe they had a glut of fabric in black and in Royal Stewart! ETA: It's fully lined as well!