What should we have to accept when buying a custom made kilt?

[RockyR]

I'll agree with that up to a point. The cost of the kilt not only reflects the cost & quality of the material, but it also represents the labor hours involved in making the garment. In a traditional hand sewn kilt, an individual has spent perhaps 20 hours involved in the garment's construction.

You just are not going to get that same quality of construction in a $50 kilt. Especially when you do the math to figure that the $50 kilt probably cost the seller $25 to buy, leaving $25 to cover the cost of materials, labor, plus profit for the manufacturer. It's all about making the kilt as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

With that in mind, I think it is unreasonable to expect the same quality of construction in a $50 and $500 kilt.

Matt beat me to it. I agree 100%.

For an 8 yard wool kilt... if the material is roughly $200 to $225 or so, then the balance of the price is the labor (and rent / electric / advertising / health insurance / etc). That would make a hand sewn kilt from certain 'high end' makers roughly $500 labor (if it was a $700 kilt). Would you expect the same quality from someone giving less than $100 labor (and heat / electric / rent / etc)? Either high end kilt firms are excessively overcharging or they put more labor / knowledge / care into a kilt. Forgetting about rent / etc., if you pay kiltmakers at both firms $20 / hour, that gives the first firm 5 hours to make the kilt and the higher end firm 25 hours to make a kilt.

I would echo Matt's comments. There's no reason to put out a poorly made kilt, but as a consumer, you shouldn't expect the same thing from a $300 kilt that you should from a $700 kilt.

Would you expect a Farrari and a VW Jetta to handle the same on the racetrack?

[artificer]

Would you expect a Farrari and a VW Jetta to handle the same on the racetrack?

Yes! I would expect both of them would be stuck in the service bays and the Honda to be alone out on the track