0. On this page
1. Ready-made kilts
Readymade kilt, Holyrood tartan
1. Ready-made kilts
1a. Locally manufactured
Locally manufactured means that the kilts are sewn in the country where the vendor is situated.
United Kingdom
Highland Store 2 yard wool off-the-peg kilts
Kilts4less x-hire kilts
Eireland
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Readymade kilt by O'Neil of Dublin. The tartan, Stewart Navy, is no longer available.
O'Neil of DublinLightweight kilts in pure worsted wool. Four different tartans.
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Readymade imported kilt, Thompson Camel tartan; white kilt hose.
1b. Imported kilts from Pakistan
When buying your first kilt or you just want a kilt to wear in situations where an expensive wool kilt would be overkill, a ready-made kilt might be a good choice.
They typically are 5 or 8 yard kilts, made of PV or an acryllic fabric and 24" long and well under £100.
Most of them come from Pakistan, meaning they are what you might call imported kilts. But they might also come from other Far-East low labour cost countries, as will practically all clothing today, even expensive brands, so per se it does not mean inferior quality.
That said, the cheapest kilts in the £25-35 range might give you less value for money, if any, than kilts selling at about £50-£60. At least this is my experience. The problem is first of all the fabric, even if the sewing quality could also be better. Cheap PV/acrylic fabrics peel, making in no time the kilt useless. High quality PV fabrics do not.
My advise to you as a customer, avoid cheapest of kilts.
My advice to vendors of cheaper Pakistani kilts,
Have yardage reduced from 8 to 4 or 5, use saved cost on better fabric quality and keep the price. By doing so, also a few Rupees shall be saved on labour cost, as there is less yardage to handle. And, due to less weight, freight cost may go down, as well. Reduce number of straps and buckles from three to two and sincerily consider improving leather quality of the straps. Offer 8 yard kilts at a higher price.
United Kingdom
Heritage of Scotland
House of Scotland on ebay
Jannat Scottish Heritage on ebay
Kilt Society Essentials Kilt Thistle Blue tartan.
A very nice kilt made of durable PV. It comes in six company-designed tartans plus Black Watch and solid black. But only in the 24" standard length and 8-yards. Kilt Society would also have very nice custom kilts, but from mid October 2020 they have decided to concentrate on imported kilts.
Tartanista
Tartanista on ebay
The Scotland Kilt Company
The Scotland Kilt Company on ebay
Germany
In Germany there are a few places where you can buy a kilt off-the-peg kilts:
Celticcraft
Irish Berlin Shop/retailer
Gr. Hamburger Str. 36A, 10115 Berlin
Dienstag - Freitag 13.00 bis 19.30 Uhr
Samstag 10.00 bis 16.00
Scottish Things
Ludwina Helfert
Hauptstr. 5c
63457 Hanau - Großauheim
Di. & Do. 14:00 - 18:00 Uhr im Laden
Syriel, a German kilt vendor, knows how a fine kilt should be made. Until some years ago she would sew kilts made to measure but now she is concentrating her business on imported ready-made kilts in a quality she can answer for. The range also comprises tartans, not seen with other vendors, and prices look competitive. Unfortunately, you cannot pay with your credit card yet. Hopefully Syriel is going to change that soon.
Sweden
Scottish House Stockholm
Spain
Galician Shop
The Netherlands
Celtic Webmerchant
USA
Kiltmart
Stillwater kilts
UT-Kilts
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Custom kilt, Caledonia tartan
2. Custom kilts
Wanting a kilt in wool, which really fits you when it comes to waist and length and where you'll have a lot of tartans to choose from, go for a kilt made to measure. It doesn't have to be that expensive. Only kiltmakers, giving you the option to order your kilt online and according to your measures, are listed below.
2a. Locally manufactured
Locally manufactured means that the kilts are sewn in the country where the vendor is situated, be it in Scotland, USA, Canada, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland etc.
Custom kilt, Gunn Ancient tartan. The kilt is worn with an anorak.
United Kingdom
Clan, a major Scottish kilt vendor, earlier known as Scotweb, has a very well designed and functioning web site.
And you can have kilts in all price groups, except for cheap imported ones.
Instead they are offering their most interesting
Essential Scotweb Casual Kilt.
It is a 5 yard kilt sewn in Scotland to your measures in UK-made high quality poly viscose. You can choose between no less than 70 tartans, and most of them are only £137.
Probably this is the kilt, I should go for as my first one (if not the USA Kilts Casual). It is 4-5 times more expensive than £25-35 cheap 8-yard kilts, but you'll get so much more for your money in terms of quality. And for casual wear a 5-yard light weight-medium weight kilt is by all means a better choice than is an 8-yard heavy weight one. This Clan Essential Scotweb Casual made-to-your-measures kilt you can have only six weeks after ordering, which is fast, compared to most competitors.
CLAN is also selling a five yard made-to-measure
Balmoral casual kilt "with a contemporary lower-waisted cut" which isn't a bad thing for a kilt to be worn casually. Prices start at £194 and, best of all, a lot of tartans are available at that price.
Add to that, 7- and 8-yard kilts, as well.
Clankilts
Donaldsons of Scotland
Geoffrey Tailor
Highlander Tartan Wear
Highland Store
House of Argyll
House of Henderson
Most interesting for casual or active wear might be their machine washable, made-to-measure
4x4 Sportskilt with invisible side pockets. The fabric is 12-13 oz. polyester/viscose.
At the same price you can have a
Casual kilt made of 4 yards pure new wool.
Their prices are without British VAT.
Houston Traditional Kiltmakers
By Kilts & more you can have a 4 yard box pleated kilt at the same price as a 5 yard kilt pleated to the stripe. (A box pleated kilt takes less yardage).
Kilts4all
Kilts4less
Kilts 4 U
Kinloch Anderson
Lochcarron of Scotland
McCalls Highlandwear
Nicolson Kiltmakers
Paul Henry Kilts
ScotchCorner
Scotlandshop
ScotsConnection
Scotweb is now CLAN by Scotweb.
Slanj Kilts
The Kilt Centre
The Kilt Store
Austria
Austrian tartan kilts and fashion.
Don't miss the .The link gives you access to by now 20 beautiful magazines. They are in German only, but if you don't understand the language, just enjoy the pictures.
In fact, no kilt maker or vendor I know of does so much as Rettl when it comes to promoting the kilt and making high quality kilts become fashion.
France
Lady Chrystel Kilts
Lady Chrystel is a specialist in making box pleated, double box pleated and kingussie pleated kilts.
Germany
Carlo Jösch, Köln
Celticcraft, Perchting
Kiltmaker Donald MacKenzie
Hamburg - nach Mass geschneidert
Kilts & More Europe
Mühlhausen bei Heidelberg
Hauptstraße 74
D-69242 Mühlhausen
Mo-Do: 10:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Fr.-Sa. 10:00 bis 14:00 Uhr
Kilts are manufactured in Scotland
Schneiderei Hotz
The Netherlands
The World of Scotland
Switzerland
Gian-Andreaa
Canada
Burnett's & Struth
MacIsaac Kiltmakers
Tartantown
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Custom kilt, Farquharson tartan
USA
Affordable Kilts
Alexis Malcolm Kilts
Got Kilt
J. Higgins
Kathy Lare
Kiltshop.com
MacPhail
Linda Clifford
Being really light weight the Sport Kilt is just perfect in a hot climate. For informal occasions where you might otherwise feel comfortable in shorts, it is great – provided you don’t expect it to be a traditional kilt. I don’t. And it is not. It’s an unpretentious kilted garment of its own and for the mentioned purposes I can highly recommend it.
Sport Kilt, Loch Ness tartan.
The Celtic Croft
The Scottish Lion
The Scotland Yard
USA Kilts.com makes a very nice 4 yard kilt according to your measures, called USA Kilts Casual. Being closed by means of Velcro it is more flexible regarding waist size, and when a kilt is worn together with a wide belt no one can see that the buckles and straps are missing. The lack of metal parts also means that it shall set no alarms at airports.
And then it is washable, dries up in no time and needs very little ironing afterwards. Last not least, the USA Kilts Casual is practically indestructible.
High shipping costs from USA to Europe and no VAT to deduct are the only problems I have with this kilt. Therefore it is more expensive to Europeans than is the Clan Scotweb Essential with buckles and straps. But I really feel tempted to once buy another Casual kilt from USA Kilts.
USA KIlt Casual, American Heritage tartan. No kilt socks.
USA KIlt Casual, American Heritage tartan. White kilt socks go with most tartans.
UT-Kilts
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2b. Made-to-measure in Pakistan
Until recently all imported kilts were ready-made 24" long. But now several vendors are offering imported custom-made kilts, at practically the same price as the ready-made ones.
But how can it be possible?
Well, freight from manufacturer to vendor must be more expensive, when sent individually, rather than in bulk, but neither manufacturer, nor vendor must invest in inventory. No need then to worry about the best mix of kilts in ten different tartans and six sizes.
Add to that; that in some cases vendor and manufacturer might even be one and the same enterprize. At least, some websites seem to be in Google-translated English, indicating that the vendor is physically situated in Pakistan, being probably the manufacturer of the kilts. Rather than going through an independent vendor, he will ship ordered kilts to distribution centers in USA, UK and Europe and from these to be forwarded to comsumers.
Or they might be sent directly from Pakistan to the customer. In this case VAT and duty clearance fee might come on top, but due to modest prices hardly duty customs. The kilt shall be more expensive, of course, but
might be worth it, nevertheless.
Without having access to calculations, a kilt made in Pakistan and sold at 60 USD in USA must leave quite a margin somewhere in the distribution chain; because labour cost in Pakistan is extremely low. For around one US-dollar equivalent you get three hours of labour done in clothing industry. And a kilt is hardly allowed to take even that.
With many vendors you cannot only customize waist and length size, but also hip and fell. Some let you choose between 4, 5, 6. and 8 yards. And quite a few are connected with each other, same phone number, address or staff etc.
Quality? No idea. The fabric
might be a problem. But the concept, customizing your own kilt at modest price, is brilliant.
United Kingdom
Euro Kilt
Kilt Experts You decide waist and length.
UK Kilts
Germany
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Schottenrock (Kilt & More)
France
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Kilt Homme (Kilt & More)
Scottish Kilts
USA
Cheap Kilt
Custom Kilt
Fashion Kilt
Kiltailor
Kilt&Jacks
Kilt & More
Kilted Bros.
Kilt Collection
Kilt Experts You decide waist and length.
Kilts Shop
Liberty Kilts
Royal Kilt
Scottish Kilts.
Above mentioned Kilt & More, which might be a Pakistani company with addresses in US, France, and Germany is not the same as Scottish company Kilts & More and its German subsidiary, Kilts & More Europe, having their kilts made in Scotland.
A web address in Europe does not necessarily mean that the kilt is shipped from that country.
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Kilt Society sporran
3. Accessories
Most kilt vendors will also sell you all kinds of accessories to go with your kilt, like sporrans, belts, buckles, kilt pins, garter flashes, and kilt hose.
Looking for accessories, Kilt Society is, to my opinion, really the place to go. High quality, good taste in design, reasonable prices, and the best functioning website.
But you'll also find enterprises specializing in accessories.
Sporrans, belts & buckles
Day wear leather sporran.
Belt and buckle.
Artificer Custom Sporrans US
Centaur Design UK
Morrison Sporrans UK
Kilt hose/socks
Kilt hose by W. Brewin & Co.Belt and buckle.
W. Brewin & Co. Ltd. - WB Socks UK Kilt hose
This cpmpany sell some very nice kilt hose at a very favourable price and in several colours. Highly to recommend.
Under your kilt
Should you feel tempted to go commando but are also concerned about hygienic aspects, the solution is kind of "under kilt" or half slip, which - when worn under a kilt - is called a kilt liner.
G Lieberman & Sons US Kilt liners
Webmaster's opinion
Instead of an authorized kilt liner you might go with a
skater skirt, sometimes called a
circular skirt. It makes the perfect kilt liner or kilt protector. But you have to find it in women's stores. Or order it online
If it is OK with you to wear something from the women's section, a skater skirt under your kilt makes a perfect kilt protector.
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4. B2B
Business to business
Thinking of making kilts a business?
Pakistan
Having had the opportunity to try on a utility kilt from UK Expo International I must say that I'm most impressed by the sewing quality, the fabric and overall design.
UK Expo International also makes tartan kilts and kilted skirts for the ladies.
Greenland Pipe Co,
Thistle Rose Enterprises
China
Many suppliers to chose from.
Order sizes from 1 to 1000+ kilts
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5. Tartan mills
D.C. Dalgleish
House of Edgar
Lochcarron
Marton Mills
Strathmore Woollen Co.
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6. Tartan finders
House of Tartan
Tartans Authority
Tartans of Scotland
The Scottish Register of Tartans
What counts
Wear your kilt
on a regular basis.
Meaning
casual-first.
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