One of the most common concerns we hear from customers buying a kilt online or over the phone is anxiety about getting the measurements right. In fact, the online diagrams and instructions we’ve published for years are so well-refined that provided the guidance is followed, we very rarely have errors. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more we can do to help!

So here is our latest video - a simple step by step guide to taking your own measurements for a perfectly fitting traditional 8 Yard Kilt. We’ll soon be adding another for casual kilts, where the measurements are different.

Note that not all kiltmakers use exactly the same criteria. But since we’ve been doing this longer than any other company on earth, we think we know the best way to get it exactly right!

For anyone following the story of the proposed new official Scottish Register of Tartans, here’s some rather important news from the Scottish Parliament. A major milestone was reached yesterday:

The Presiding Officer: The fifth question is, that motion S3M-2072, in the name of Jamie McGrigor, on the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill, be agreed to.

Motion agreed to.

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill.

For more, please find here the link to the Official Report of 19 June 2008 (Debate on the Scottish Register of Tartans Bill: Stage 1)

Apologies to anyone who has been trying to access any Scotweb web sites since Saturday (including this blog) or contact the company by email etc. Due to a serious fire and explosion (thankfully no one hurt!) at one of our major data centres in the United States, all our internet services have been totally unavailable for a few days.

But through much hard work both there and here by our own tech team, I’m glad to say that we are now getting back on our feet. There may be some ongoing syptoms such as missing images for a few hours, but we’re hopeful that all services will be functioning fully later today. Sorry again for any nuisance.

I believe Burberry used to be a brand with a bit of class about it. Pity that today in the public mind wearing their check has become so linked with salt-of-the-earth working class youngsters like our beer-swilling friend here - aka ‘chavs’, ‘neds’, or ‘schemies’.

But maybe that’s appropriate, going by my recent experience. From a company that I’d expect to behave with professionalism and dignity, came a quite remarkably nasty, and frankly stupid, bit of corporate thuggery. So in the time-honoured custom of giving the bully a bit of a deserved biff on the nose, here’s the full story…

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You may recall my posting a few months ago about the progress towards an official National Register of Tartan. Well, breaking news: the bill [full document] has been introduced to Parliament, and yesterday marked its Official Release.

The new body will be administered through the Court of the Lord Lyon and the National Archives of Scotland, giving it an immediate authority not just nationally but internationally. And contrary to the fears of a few instinctive naysayers, its function will be explictly enabling rather than controlling, helping to promote tartan awareness. The parameters of what should be allowed to be recorded have been drawn as widely as possible, with the primary concern merely to control deliberate abuse of the new system.

I’ll doubtless write more anon, as developments progress. But it’s been a remarkable achievement to bring together so many interested parties to create something that should be good for everyone who cares about tartan. Watch this space!

If you enjoy looking at wonderful photography of guys in kilts, you’ve a treat in store. Our recent photoshoot at the incredibly gorgeous Lennoxlove House, half an hour South of Edinburgh (seriously, if you’re planning a wedding, check it out!) turned out fabulously. The images will be appearing on the Scotweb site over the coming weeks. But just to whet your appetite, he’s some video as a taster! More to follow soon, so watch this space!

Check out the videos…

A sample video: Classic Braemar Kilt Outfit

So you’re desperate to identify the family plaid in Great Aunt Jessie’s portrait? Or you’re redecorating your den and need to find a tartan with just the right shades to recover your favourite old chair in… But there are literally thousands of tartans available, so how on earth do you find the right ones to look at?

Search Tartans by colour!My friend, help is at last here! Our boffins have been sweating blood day and night for many moons (and that’s less of an exaggeration than you’d think - it’s a surprisingly technical task). And now, for the first time ever in the history of western civilisation, an easy-peasy facility exists where you can find just the right tartan in seconds.

Check out our amazing Tartan & Material Finder and give it a go for yourself. For most colour combos you’ll probably get dozens of returns, arranged in order of the proportions of the colours you’re looking for (weighted for the order you entered). And what’s really unique about this is that it’s not just ‘theoretical’ recorded tartans, but it all links through to fabrics actually available in those setts from all the main mills - or affordably woven to order! Neat, huh?

Edinburgh-based Scottish & Newcastle, Scotland’s last major independent and one of the UK’s largest brewers, yesterday agreed to sell up to a consortium of Heineken and Carlsberg, for the trifling sum of around eight billion pounds ($16b US). According to the screaming headlines, so ends 250 years of brewing tradition in Scotland.

Great Scottish names like Kingfisher, Fosters, Newcastle Brown, Beamish, John Smith’s, and Kronenburg will apparently now fall into foreign hands. Whilst beer connoisseur’s delights like McEwan’s Export are at risk of having their, erm, traditional recipe could be turned into just another faceless brand. Pull the other one!

The truth is that S&N sold out as a traditional brewer years ago, and was already no more than another global conglomerate with no loyalty to its origins. The scent of hops that in my youth used to waft over Edinburgh hasn’t been smelled since they ruthlessly shut down an entire industry in their home town to cash in on the land for housing. Most of what they produce is cynical factory-formula packaging of foreign brands tasting nothing like their indigenous originals, designed to cash in on trend-victims’ obsession with labels. And let’s face it, McEwan’s is industrial pish.

For anyone who actually cares about beer, I can name half a dozen great

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Burns Night is approaching (25 Jan). Last night I got to thinking about traditional fare for that celebration. There’s no question about the main dish of course. Haggis and all its ritual accompaniments are the centrepiece. But there’s more than one way to start such a meal. Scotch Broth is a common choice. But my favourite is Cullen Skink.

So yes, I got to thinking about it. Then thinking more. Until my taste buds simply wouldn’t wait two more weeks. And it’s just so ridiculously simple to make, a fabulously delicious dish in minutes. So within half an hour I was tucking in. This is all it took…

To feed four, or two greedy-guts, the main ingredient you need is smoked haddock. One fish will do. (Don’t worry about quantities - any proportions will give a tasty result.) Grab a few potatoes, peel them if you’re fussed, chop them roughly with an onion (any size) too, and boil them in enough water to cover. Meanwhile fry the fish (skin up) in a goodly chunk of butter, until the skin will peel off easily (which you can throw away). Then just mix these ingredients, pour in as much milk as you have water (some people use cream), maybe mash them roughly (or don’t) then throw in a little chopped chives or spring onion (or not), parsley (or not), and salt & pepper. Done!

Ready to eat in fifteen minutes max. If there’s any left, it’s even better the next day. One of Scotland’s great dishes. Enjoy.

As any Scot will tell you, glorious failure is a bit of a Scottish tradition. To be fair, there’s the odd sport where we’ve done far better than our numbers deserve. Formula 1, snooker, and, erm, women’s curling come to mind.

But as we all know, our national football team delights in nothing more than humbling the mighty when it hardly matters, then floundering in the face of the minnows, routinely resulting in a finale where nothing short of a miracle is needed, which we so nearly pull off, but not quite. (Can’t think when this last happened though.)

So some of us remain to be convinced that one Andrew Murray, tennis prodigy extraordinaire, is even of our genetic stock at all. A throwback? A mix up in maternity? I mean, this is tennis we’re talking about… a sport that requires athleticism, determination, huge reserves not just of skill but of stamina, cunning, and sponsorship. Could all the hype actually be true this time? A potential grand slam winner? Let’s give him the best coach in the world, to sack, then trust his obvious self-belief to see him through down under,in the first major tournament of his first (we’re told) truly competitive season…

Oh dear. Out in the first round. Business as usual. Fancy a game of darts, anyone?