What would you do?

[Steve Ashton]

Perhaps I'm just a bit touchy about the tone of this thread. It was started because I was faced with a distasteful decision and I really did not want to make a mistake.

It was never my intention to start a thread that compared one kiltmaker or supplier to another. And I never intended this thread to go into the old question of made in Scotland vs made elsewhere.

It is a fact of life that there are some very good kiltmakers in Scotland. There are also some very poor ones. It really is the individual that counts more than where that individual lives.

A lot of what this thread was intended for was to dis-spell the advertising. Such as, and I'm sorry to say, Dalgliesh is not the only or the last artisan weaver. There are four more that I personally know of and one of them is in the exact same industrial park as Dalgliesh. Lochcarron is in the same industrial park and just a few doors away.

I'm sorry but the Harris Tweed label in a garment does not state its quality. Only that it was made by a group based in the islands on looms that are not powered by an outside source. Tweed is named for the Tweed river and started in Hawich. There is also Donegal Tweed which is another group, just like the Harris group, but based in Ireland. Same idea of home weavers banding together to sell their products. There are many Tweed weavers and some are truly excellent.

But advertising is powerful. It was a Scottish firm that first introduced the pure White hose to the kilt world just as it was a Scottish firm that gave us the cookie cutter "full outfit at one time, including Ruche tie, your clan crest on every accessory and matching Tartan flashes at no extra charge" way of buying a kilt.

So what this thread was about, was getting you to think about your next purchase. To get you beyond the flashy websites and beyond the advertising phrases. To get you to start looking at the product and the person offering it?

The World Wide Web is truly like the Wild West. You can say almost anything, promise anything, imply anything, and there is no one that is capable of stopping you.


Has anyone ever noticed that advertising here, on X Marks, is different that almost anywhere else? Each advertiser has their own forum section. They also participate here as individuals and not by their company names. There is a very real and valid reason for this. If one of our members wants to ask a question of one of our advertisers all they have to do is post in that person's section. That person immediately gets an email telling them that you posted. You will get a response from a real person. You will get to know that person. Advertising on an on-line forum truly is one of the only places on the WWW where there is this one-to-one, very personal communication.

This thread was started about trust. It was started about ethics and the person selling you an item. It was not started about where that item was made. May we please not turn this thread into some sort of "If it's not Scottish, it's Crap" thread.

Let's keep this thread about this very unique and special place we have here. On X Marks, if you choose to approach one of our advertisers for your next purchase, you will be able to trust in the person.