Gallery Tartan kilts
Black Watch tartan
The tartan
Black Watch may very well be the number two tartan in popularity - after Stewart Royal. It is a universal tartan and therefore, for any man to wear. Women will wear it too, because it is very often used for kilted skirts or just skirts. You may also see it in interior design.
The main colour is green/blue but there are different versions of this tartan. Also, colours can vary from mill to mill. On some of the pictures below it was necessary to lighten up colours in Photoshop, or the kilt had appeared black. Hence the name Black Watch.
The kilts
In this gallery there are three different kilts in Black Watch tartan.
Kilt 1. O'Neil of Dublin kilt
The fabric is 10 oz. wool, meaning it is a lightweight kilt. It is ready-made and the length is 23". Something special is that it is not lined, which you can see on picture #3. Probably it is not needed, due to the lightweight tartan. The sewing quality is excellent, however. And so is the fabric. O'Neil has an assortment of men's kilts in four tartans, Black Watch being one of them.
The pictures
The gallery contains 12 pictures
2. Heritage of Scotland kilt
The kilt is branded John Morrison, being once the name of Heritage of Scotland's bespoke kilts but, unfortunately, they are no longer offering kilts made-to-measure. The length is 23" and the fabric is 16 oz. wool.
In some of the pictures, #5 through #11, it is worn with accessories for dress-up events.
If you compare this kilt with the O'Neil kilt above, it is obvious that the O'Neil kilt has more pleats, but not as deep. Just two different ways to handle around 5 yards.
The gallery contains 11 pictures
3. Tartanista Value Kilt
The gallery contains 5 pictures
The kilt is a 5-yard Value Kilt. It is cheap, really cheap, under £30. With three tartans, one of them being Black Watch, you can, besides 24", also have it 22" and 26" long.
I went for the short version, which I could wear either at shortest correct length (one inch above knee) or a tad shorter.
But what do you get for that little money? Well, the pleats were, no surprise, NOT sewn down. That I had seen, looking at the pictures on their website. But it is lined and the thread which keeps it in place, cleverly also keeps the pleats together and thereby gives you the feeling of a fell.
The kilt had three buckles and straps of reasonable quality. Two straps of a better quality had been better than these three.
However, the real problem was the sewing quality which was pretty inferior. This kilt litterally fell apart! And then there is the fabric. Acrylic fabrics tend to peel, but this kilt with its "10 oz. 100% acrylic" fabric did it by far more than any other kilt, I have been wearing.
Should you think of giving this kilt a try, I suggest that you
1) never ever wear a sporran with it. Keeping a sporran away from the front apron might prevent it from peeling.
2) always wear this kilt with a belt, at least never go commando without one. The straps or buckles might fall off while you are wearing it.
Value for money? Unfortunately not.
I have been dealing with Tartanista several times and have a very good impression of the company. Freight is cheap, delivery fast and quality good; this non-value "Value" kilt being an exception. Pictures are showing the kilt when it was new or almost new. On picture #5, you can see peeling has startet.
Also, in the meantime, the quality might have improved. I hope it has.
