Inexpensive kilts - a quandry

[eagle43172]

Forgive me if this has been covered before. As of posting I have but one kilt (a Cameron of Erracht Tank I made back in the early 90's) that because of post colon cancer surgery lack of exercise now fits like a very tight glove. I've convinced the Mrs that the purchase of an inexpensive kilt at this time as a stopgap fits in the budget (while I wear the kilts in the family when it comes to finance issues she wears the pants!).
Here is my problem I have: I am a proud Cameron and would like a Clan tartan kilt, but almost none of the ventors who sell in the $100-$150 (US) range of "economy" kilts have Cameron tartans available (I'm not complaining about vendor inventory, popularity must drive inventory so many other Clans similarly not represented. Why are the tartans in the inventory carried? (One respected company does have a Clan Cameron acrylic available and which I will probably buy, even though it's not my favorite clan sett.) I really like the Cameron Hunting but those variants are apparently not available in PV or Acrylic. Everyone seems to carry Wallace, are there more Wallaces than Camerons? Maybe all the other Camerons only buy high end tanks and never think inexpensive. (And yes, I've looked on eBay.)
I realize that those of us who believe that it's nice to have a clan connection on your kilt may not be the majority here, but it would be nice to see a greater variety of tartan options in cheaper models.
If there are others out there who want to get a clan kilt in an economy model but can't find one maybe we could form a community group.
Thanks to all for listening to my rant.
Dave

[David Thorpe]

If you can get a few of your kinsmen interested, Marton Mills will do a commissioned run of whatever tartan you want in PV with a 13 meter minimum and substantial price breaks stepping up to 70 meters. We are in the process of doing this with MacTavish Hunting and have over 120 meters in committed orders at around $20 US per meter. We are a much smaller clan than yours, so I would imagine that this is quite do-able for you. Marton Mills has been very responsive to email inquiries and has made the process easy so far.

Good luck!

[McElmurry]

Yep, neither the Morrison Clan (red) nor the Morrison Society (green) are available in PV. I have considered organizing a special run and advertising through the clan newsletter but I have too many other projects going right now.

[Panache]

Dave,

I found myself in a similar boat. I really wanted a Nicoll tartan kilt because my lovely Flame-Haired Celtic Amazon Goddess is a Nicol and we are part of the MacNicol Clan Society. There are no MacNicol/ Nicol / Nicolson / etc tartans available in PV so the only option was to order a full on traditional kilt and that was going to be a lot!

But it wasn't the only option

Rocky over at USA kilts has a 5 yard wool kilt option that is machine sewn.

http://www.usakilts.com/index.php/ki...wool-kilt.html

OK it is $320 instead of $100-$150 so that means you need to save up a little more, however you will get a very handsome wool kilt with lots of pleats.





It is more than you wanted to pay I'll grant you. However it is a lot less than a hand sewn 8 yard kilt and has the advantages of you getting your choice of tartan wool custom made to your measurements. That is pretty significant. Best of all unless you are a kilt expert or X Marker closely examining and fingering your pleats no one is going to be able to tell that it isn't an 8 yard hand sewn.

Here is a review here on XMTS from our own Detroit Pete

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-review-71484/


Sometimes there isn't exactly the option we want so it is worth taking a look around to see what else is available.

(By the by, I have three USA Kilts Semi-traditional models and love them and wear them often. They don't hold a candle to my one USA Kilts 5 harder. It is one of my favorites for both looks and fit)

Cheers

Jamie

[Laird_M]

Personally I'd avoid acrylic and try to find a PV.
Acryllic tends to fluff up and pill with any abrasion - even the pleats rubbing over each other. Also, the material just doesn't feel right to me. PV, whilst not wool, does at least feel comfortable to the touch.

[Panache]

As of posting I have but one kilt (a Cameron of Erracht Tank I made back in the early 90's) that because of post colon cancer surgery lack of exercise now fits like a very tight glove.
Dave

Dave,

Giving the matter a little more thought, if you decide to save for that wool tartan 5 harder as I suggested, you can make your current kilt work for you for about $15

http://www.usakilts.com/index.php/ki...raps-1-25.html

If you can actually fit into your kilt, albeit not comfortably, an extra inch might make a big difference

Cheers

Jamie

[hootstwo]

You can get the "Casual Kilt on Sale" from Burnetts and Struth http://www.burnetts-struth.com/casual-kilt-on-sale/ for $199 and that's in wool. They have Cameron of Erracht Ancient and Modern listed as being available right now. Again, not quite $150, but honestly a GREAT kilt for the money. Having just received one in Galbraith ancient I'm a suitably impressed with the quality of the kilt for the money and am pondering ordering another in a different tartan.

Another choice to consider...

[bdkilted]

Dave;
I have the same problem with the Keith tartan. I have the tank in a modern, but would like to have a PV in the ancient. One would think there is an energetic weaver who would do a run of each once in a while, just to fill the niche.
BD

[Fedgunner]

Celtic Croft offers an economy kilt in Cameron modern (home spun) for $119. Not a tank, but it is in your budget.

[guardsman]

perhaps run under clan,I wanted Cameron ancient , no can do until minimium order,sure we could gang up