tl;dr:
Prices for kilts made more accurate; 25% deposit now, rest later; prices will fluctuate so nothing is final; up the fucking city; you have until 31st August; order sheets.
January 2017 update: There will likely be a second round of orders. Please do not send anything to the address given on the order sheets in this post as I no longer live there. Keep watching this site/my twitter for updates and thank you for your continued interest in NGS kilts.
Hey guys! The Detroit City season is underway and we’ve already packed Keyworth up to the brim with 7,410 supports, fans, and bewildered Hamtramck locals! We’ve crushed the Bucks, carried Louisville in PKs and have shown that we’ve weathered the off season, rumors, and came out stronger than ever before!
During the off season I began work on designing, registering, and producing an NGS/DCFC tartan that we can turn into kilts and other fun items for our burgeoning army of rapid supporters.
So where are we on all that?
The Design
This was the final design that I came up with and got approved by Sarge and Ken. Anyone familiar with the NGS will recognize the colors motif pretty quick. We’re rouge and gold on a background of black and white, with a grey little train-track running through the middle as an homage to our new home in Keyworth.
There isn’t much “deep” history here. Not like every thread count means something. No long stories to tell. It is a tartan. It is ours.
Registered
After designing I got it registered with the Scottish Government. It is ours and always will be ours. They would not add the restriction that people from Ohio couldn’t wear it without coming to a game and shaking Sarge’s hand but I wasn’t going to press the issue with a bewildered and honestly rather tired Scottish bureaucrat.
Making it Real
This is where things get… complicated.
You’ve likely seen that I’ve posted links to order sheets before, tried to get people to send them in, pushed back dates, and eventually fell silent.
There’s a reason for that.
I found a supplier more than happy to make our dreams come true at an extremely reasonable price: SportKilt. I decided to do a test run with my personal tartan, going through all the steps and eventually including checking CAD and thread selections. I placed my order and was surprised at the protectionist taxes we levy on imported wool.
So I had to rethink how we were going to do this.
Here is the updated order sheet.
I had to bump all the prices in order to reflect the 25% tax on imported wool. It sucks. It hurt. But these prices are still significantly better than I expected when I first started this whole thing. Prices range from $245 for the smallest base kilt to $433 for the largest fancy kilt (excluding options). This is an increase from $210 and $380 respectively.
Sashes and capes are no longer priced for labor-only. They now include a yard of material at $45.
Children’s kilts were also increased, now ranging from $74 to $128 from the original $60 to $110.
Women’s skirts reflect the same price increases as the men’s kilts.
I’ve also extended the time-line to the last day of August. You have until the 31st of August to get me your order forms and your money.
Which brings me to the ordering part – When you give me your order sheet (in person or by mail) you MUST include a 25% deposit (rounded to the nearest dollar). Since we’re talking international importing/exporting prices fluctuate and so do conversion rates. The number of orders changes the price of fabric as well. Right now we’re assuming we get enough to get the best price, but too few orders will increase the price from $45/yard to $62/yard.
When I get a final price from the supplier/SportKilt I will update you and have you write a check for the remainder of the balance.