Meet the Maker: Howie Nicholsby

The swing of a kilt is as intrinsically Scottish as whisky or bagpipes, but tartan is not the only option. Dream Escape meets the man who revolutionised the kilt world at his workshop in Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile.

Nothing says Scotland more than tartan, with its colourful patterns and evocative links to the clans. For Scottish men, it’s a rite of passage to get married in a kilt, some will even receive one as a coming-of-age gift, and tradition has it that you wear your family tartan.

Howie Nicholsby comes from family of kilt makers, but in the late 1990s he shocked the traditional world of tartan with his new take on a kilt. His kilts – in denim, tweed or leather – are hardwearing, practical and you don’t need to have a Scottish name to wear one.

In fact, Howie loves them so much that he hasn’t worn trousers for more than two decades. “I made the decision to wear a kilt every day at the age of 21 and it became an extremely tangible part of my life,” says the fourth-generation kilt maker, who made his first kilt in PVC, and set up 21st Century Kilts to market his own designs in 1996.

When you meet Howie he is likely to be wearing one of his own designs, like the 10-year-old denim one he has on for Dream Escape’s visit.

“I don't think a pair of jeans would have lasted – or still be in fashion – like this great denim kilt,” he says and points to his grey kilt with its signature practical pockets, comfortable cut and the exclusive kilt pin which only comes as a part of a 21st Century Kilts package.

Although a pioneer of modern kilts, Howie is also fully invested in the traditional styles, and since his father Geoffrey retired has been revisiting his roots. He is back on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile in the family shop where he worked in his teens. Now called the House of Kilt Making, it incorporates the family’s Geoffrey (Tailor)

Mackenzie and 21st Century Kilts

Kiltmaker business and Howie’s own 21st Century Kilts. Here Howie and his business partner John Webster can make your kilt dream come true.

And they have made many dreams come true over the years. Howie’s long list of famous clients include Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Vin Diesel, Sam Heughan, Craig Ferguson and John McEnroe.

John Webster and Howie Nicholsby

When you meet Howie he is likely to be wearing one of his own designs, like the 10-year-old denim one he has on for Dream Escape’s visit.

Spend any time with Howie and he’ll let slip a celeb nugget – like how after meeting Robbie Williams in the Royal Mile shop he got to hang out with him at his house in Los Angeles. He has also dressed many of the Grand Marshals for the annual New York Tartan Day Parade. In 2022 it was Karen Gillan, the Inverness-born star of the Marvel superhero films, and, in 2019, actor and comedian Sir Billy Connelly.

Deciding to buy a kilt is not something you do lightly. It is an investment and takes time and careful consideration. “We want our clients to buy something that is going to last 20 years. That takes a wee bit of investment in time, as well as money, so it is worth coming here to our base and taking it all in and making the right decisions,” says Howie.

Customers are welcomed into the recently refurbished showroom, which is designed to encorporate both comfort and the practicalities of creating a kilt: an array of fabric sample books, sporrans, jackets, socks, skean dhu and kilt pins.

“We’re just guides,” explains Howie. “It’s a team effort to put an outfit together. It’s not just the kilt makers and tailors behind the scenes, we need to make sure customers choose the right thing. We, as the guides, need to show them pictures or fabric samples so they can visualise their kilt and how they will wear it.”

As each kilt is precision-made for an individual, Howie explains that you can’t just try one on. “The measurements are to a quarter of an inch, so even if we’ve got a kilt hanging there that you like, trying it on could have a negative effect if it’s ill-fitting and put you off completely.”

He adds: “There’s a lot of trust involved. The person you go to to buy a kilt should be knowledgeable enough to be honest about what’s going to work for you.”

And Howie has some advice for any Dream Escape guests planning to invest in a kilt. “Make sure you have worn one. We don’t do a hire service any more but many firms do, so rent a kilt for a weekend and see how you get on.”

Mackenzie and 21st Century Kilts

There’s a lot of trust involved. The person you go to to buy a kilt should be knowledgeable enough to be honest about what’s going to work for you.

The experience and expertise that Howie and John have accumulated over the years has come from the many times they have created kilt outfits for satisfied customers.

From just a small number of measurements, a kilt is expertly crafted for the perfect fit by makers who learnt their skills with a five-year apprenticeship. But that is just the beginning: you need to make a choice about its fabric and then the accessories.

Mackenzie and 21st Century Kilts

Many people will go for a family clan tartan, but nowadays there are plenty of other options, with designs developed for organisations and events. You could even have your own tartan created for you, and here Howie can help. He will use his aptitude for numerology to introduce personal details into the design of the fabric that will then be woven especially for you.

I made the decision to wear a kilt every day at the age of 21 and it became an extremely tangible part of my life...

Howie will also guide you through the mysteries of what to wear with your kilt. Anyone unfamiliar with Scottish fashion, will not believe the number of options available to kilt wearers.

Where once there was the choice between the highly formal Prince Charlie or a tweed day jacket, which in turn determined your style of shirt, tie, socks, shoes and sporran, today it’s much more relaxed and almost anything goes.

Howie, in his denim jacket and boots, is a good example of how many Scots now wear their kilts: just as they please.

Whether it is a traditional tartan kilt or one of the 21st Century designs you are ordering, Howie and John ensure it is an exclusive experience and the new House of Kilt Making is the perfect home for them to work their magic.

As well as the smart studio where Dream Escape guests are welcomed for their appointment with a dram, in the front of the building is the bright workshop where the tailors can look out from their workbench on the crowds thronging the Royal Mile below.

Eight to 12 weeks after your fitting, the kilt will be ready and, although it can be shipped anywhere in the world, many clients take the chance to return to Edinburgh to see Howie, who has inevitably become your friend.

The intimate experience of making the choices involved in creating an item that will see you through some of the most important events in your adult life does tend to have that effect.

The kilt pin

The kilt pin is a traditional accessory that complements a kilt and serves an important purpose by weighing down the front, thus protecting the wearer's modesty.

Kilt Pin

Leather accessories

A kilt is more than just the garment. Traditional outfits will include a sporran, a skean dhu and a kilt pin. Mackenzie Leather, just off the Royal Mile in St Mary's Street, is one of the few places you will see a sporran being made. The front of the shop is a spacious showroom but in view, at the back, is the workshop where master crafters – using traditional skills – create a range of exclusive leather goods. Mackenzie’s sporrans are handmade and come in a range of colours to match your kilt. The Day sporran is simple, soft and supple, while the Oak design is made from oak-bark hide from the last oak tanner in the UK.

Kilt hire

If you want to try wearing a kilt, Gordon Nicolson on the Royal Mile and McCalls Highlandwear on Leith Walk are respected hire companies. Nicolson's business, which grabbed the headlines in 2020 for making the kilt for StrictlyComeDancingcontestant JJ Chalmers, opened in 2009 and has since expanded with a kilt-making academy and the takeover of the last handmade bagpipe maker in Edinburgh. McCalls has a much longer history, founded in 1887 in Aberdeen. It now has five shops across Scotland, as well as a traditional kilt-making factory in the Ochil Hills.

Dress tartan

Although tartan has been around for hundreds of years, what we recognise today owes much to George IV’s visit to Scotland in 1822, when Sir Walter Scott had him wear a kilt. The subsequent Victorian love affair with Scotland saw tartan become more standardised, with patterns linked to the clans. Edinburgh’s tailors were an important part of the rise of Highland dress, and many worked on the North and South Bridges beside the Royal Mile.William Anderson was one of them and his business, founded in 1868, has become an international brand. Kinloch Anderson first supplied the British royal family in 1903 and, now based in Leith, records its fascinating history in a treasure-filled heritage room beside its showroom.

WORDS |FIONA LAING

Rosie Peattie, Dream Escape Client Relationship Manager and Blue Badge Guide, meets Howie Nicholsby in his new store in Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile

Rosie Peattie, Client Relationship Manager

The tradition of wearing a kilt pin was introduced during the reign of Queen Victoria, who is said to have removed her brooch and attached it to a soldier's kilt to weigh it down to prevent embarrassment after it blew up on a windy day at Balmoral Castle! Every kilt created by Howie includes his distinctive trademark lightning bolt kilt pins (only to be worn on his kilts), making them instantly recognisable anywhere in the world.

⬥ rosie@dreamescape.co.uk