Quote Originally Posted by jilly View Post
My dad, the massive kilted-man in our family, was saying recently he had heard that they were going to try and stop the "fake" kilt shops from trading in Edinburgh. How you define fake I don't know. He would love this site if he knew how to work a computer :s
Anyway yeah he said they were trying to put some law or something in so you needed to be selling the real deal. No idea where he heard it from though...
My understanding is that the Scottish Parliament investigated this very subject, but got bogged down within minutes as they could not find a definition of 'a kilt' that would satisfy most Scots.

If the definition were to be what we call 'a tank', then many military kilts would fall outside. So would any lighter weight kilts. And so would any that were not knife pleated. I am sure Lady Chrystel, Mat Newsome and Steve Ashton would have feelings on the matter, to mention but three.

The truth is that today it is illegal to discriminate against one type of shop in one city, but allow the same type to flourish in another. Scotland needs the tourist money that these type of shops generate. The tourists have to stay somewhere, they have to eat somewhere and they have to visit places because they are tourists. Part of that tourist experience is the 'Tartan Tat' shops - they expect them. And if they can't find them in Edinburgh, they will go to somewhere else in Scotland where they can be found.

A man will buy a £20.00 kilt on a whim, but not one for £300+ - that takes dedication.

Regards

Chas