Setting up false expectations

[Marshal Moroni]

This is a great post and a tribute to the variety of good folks on our forum and the versatility of the Kilt!

I like tartan kilts (keep thinking about a solid, soon as I loos some more weight we'll see...) and I like variety. All of my kilts (8) are of the less expensive variety (FC and SWK). Would I like a Tank, of course. But, lose weight, save money, etc. For now its important, to me, that I'm comfortable, which means keeping out of trousers as much as possible.

We need to to be welcoming and encouraging to all potential kilt wearers. Something I think that we are as a group.

This is a great forum, I sure am glad to have found it!

Cheers to all,

Marshal Moroni

[MrLion]

Thank you for this post Matt.

[Riverkilt]

NOW you tell me......

[KFCarter]

Very thoughtful post Matt; I appreciate you bringing this up.

I've only just begun to wear kilts... less than a year... but I've wanted to since I was a boy. All I knew back then was that they were expensive and out of reach, and I didn't put the desire on the back burner, I literally took it off the stove and forgot about it.

I've only recently had the means to indulge my interest... the result of a special, one-off kind of situation. You might say I've been making up for lost time, although I've just about reached the end of my budget.

In my exuberance over my string of kilt and kit acquisitions, I've been all too happy to rush to the camera and get the posts on XMarks (no pics, it didn't happen!) and I've posted quite a string over the last few months.

It hadn't crossed my mind that this sort of display, coupled with many such on the forum, could be discouraging to those with limited budgets, but now that you've mentioned it, I see that it could.

How do we put that in balance? I think that XMarks has been a great resource for those with money to spend, looking to spend it well and at the same time there are lots of great DIY resources, and also many generous gift and trade transactions that have taken place through this forum as well which have certainly been a benefit to those with tight budgets.

Perhaps just communicating about it can help. I think so. And toward that end we have you to thank for bringing up this subject.

[ChubRock]

Ahhh to have Mr. Newsome's taste and budget. Nice pairing.
ChubRock

Didn't mean to insult you Mr. Newsome. Unknowingly though, it seems I may have opened a discussion. I just admire all of your photos and assumed you had a closet the size of a house. I have read and understood this thread and feel better about my purchases thus far.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Didn't mean to insult you Mr. Newsome. Unknowingly though, it seems I may have opened a discussion. I just admire all of your photos and assumed you had a closet the size of a house. I have read and understood this thread and feel better about my purchases thus far.

:-) No worries. I wasn't insulted at all. In fact, it's rather a compliment, I suppose, that others think I dress better than my actual means might allow.

[Chase]

Actually, I'm one of those guys...I often think to myself, how can I afford even the smaller items, like a new sporran, or a belt, or hose...I make pretty good coin and I can't figure how to save for that Navy Edzell Rocky was advertising awhile back, and now that I see the new registered EMS tartan, I want one of those too.

Short of getting a really great deal or an inheritance, I don't see how I'm going to manage? I'm not looking for advise or sympathy for that matter, I'm just saying I'm one of those guys who thinks my passion for kilts is a tad expensive.

Chase

[The Wizard of BC]

Matt,

I'm real glad you brought this subject up. It is something I have been trying to put into words for quite a while now.

When I first started to make Kilts it was my concept to create something that could be worn in the place of trousers with whatever was already in the closet.

But I wanted my product to look like a Kilt.

If you look back at almost all of the photos of my you see that I wear regular shirts, regular shoes, and for the most part nothing that it is normally assumed that must be worn with a Kilt.

I'm going to think about this subject for a while and then perhaps suggest to the Mods that along with our Traditional Highland Dress section and our Historical Highland Attire section that we add a modern/contemporary/dressing on a budget section. (don't yet know what a good name would be).

I'm also going to try to come up with my own version of the 10 ways to dress pictorial based on normal everyday things that most will already have in their closet.

Because I advocate the wearing of the Kilt as everyday wear I have tried to tell my customers and friends to "Wear what you already have". It has always been my guiding principal that the Kilt is just another piece of clothing. Accessories like hose or a belt, although specific to a Kilt, shouldn't have to be expensive.

[KFCarter]

I'm going to think about this subject for a while and then perhaps suggest to the Mods that along with our Traditional Highland Dress section and our Historical Highland Attire section that we add a modern/contemporary/dressing on a budget section. (don't yet know what a good name would be).

Excellent suggestion. I think this would be a valuable and very useful addition to the forum.

[Bugbear]

Matt,

I'm real glad you brought this subject up. It is something I have been trying to put into words for quite a while now.

When I first started to make Kilts it was my concept to create something that could be worn in the place of trousers with whatever was already in the closet.

But I wanted my product to look like a Kilt.

If you look back at almost all of the photos of my you see that I wear regular shirts, regular shoes, and for the most part nothing that it is normally assumed that must be worn with a Kilt.

I'm going to think about this subject for a while and then perhaps suggest to the Mods that along with our Traditional Highland Dress section and our Historical Highland Attire section that we add a modern/contemporary/dressing on a budget section. (don't yet know what a good name would be).

I'm also going to try to come up with my own version of the 10 ways to dress pictorial based on normal everyday things that most will already have in their closet.

Because I advocate the wearing of the Kilt as everyday wear I have tried to tell my customers and friends to "Wear what you already have". It has always been my guiding principal that the Kilt is just another piece of clothing. Accessories like hose or a belt, although specific to a Kilt, shouldn't have to be expensive.

To keep from being driven crazy, I have to think of traditional kilts as being Highland attire, and contemporary kilts (except for the contemporaries that look just like a traditional) as not Highland attire. It isn't easy because tartan tends to pull things back over into the Highland attire category; useing a regular leather, three tassle sporran tends to pull things over into the Highland attire category. I suppose the reverse, such as not wearing a sporran, causes the same issues in the other direction.

In the end, I guess you just live with what you have and the way you see the world.