Howie Nicholsby: The 21st Century Kiltmaker
We caught up with Howie Nicholsby of 21st Century Kilts to talk all about the iconic kilt he made for Sir Billy Connolly as part of the 2019 NYC Tartan Day Parade.
V&A Dundee: So howdid you first get into the kiltmaking business?
Howie: I first started 21st Century Kilts in 1996, within the family business, Geoffrey (Tailor) Kiltmakers. I'm fourth generation in the kilt business, my grandmother was a kiltmaker pre-World War Two, and her father worked for Forsyths on Princes Street as a tailor, cutter and presser. So it's kind of in my DNA. I started selling socks and garter flashes aged six in Atlanta, Georgia at the Scottish festival Stone Mountain, so I've been doing this a long time!
With 21st Century Kilts, creating the modern kilt at the age of 18 seemed for me like a natural evolution in my own life. Having grown up with the traditional kilts and not having a tartan I could associate as my own, I began experimenting with materials such as PVC, and this opened up the world of kilts, I think, to more people. Just because you don't have your own tartan, it doesn't mean that you can't wear a kilt.
V&A Dundee: How has tartan evolved throughout your life?
Howie: Growing up as a child, I think there was under two thousand tartans registered, whereas I think it’s something like eleven or twelve thousand now. It’s hard to keep count but I find it amazing that people are still designing tartans and it's a growing thing that people want to have, whether it be corporate or personal or for a football team or anything.
I do a bit of research in costume design, especially in television and film, and I've watched a bit of old school Star Trek recently, which reminded me of the time that James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek, actually stood in the store back in the nineties. My mum and dad wouldn't let me take the day off school to meet Scotty. I still have a grudge on that one.
But seeing Scotty in Star Trek wearing a kilt a few times, and its use in other sci-fi shows and films, says to me that the kilt is seen as unageable and so is tartan.
V&A Dundee: So, tell us all about making that infamous outfit for the Big Yin! How did it come about?
Howie: It came about because of an amazing event called the National Tartan Day Parade in New York City. Sir Billy Connolly was the 18th grand marshal back in 2019 and me dressing him was an absolute honour. The process of making the kilt involved going back and forth mainly with Pamela, deciding on the tartan, and because there's a lot of MacLean choices, I’m glad he chose the weathered colour he did, as it is a personal favourite of mine, it's absolutely stunning! The tartan was woven by Lochcarron of Scotland, it's a medium weight class which is perfect because he lives in Key West, Florida, so I do hope when he gets the kilt back, I like to imagine him wearing it with flip flops and a Hawaiian shirt, because that's my image of Billy.
V&A Dundee: What was the process of making that kilt?
Howie: Due to the tight turnaround of it, there was no fittings. The measurements came from Pamela and I don't think she'd mind me saying, if I had stuck with the length measurement that she had provided, it could have all been very embarrassing for all of us! The kilt measurement on a guy about six foot should be around 24/25 inches. The kilt measurements supplied was 18 inches, so there was a bit of back and forth and I was like, “going by height, ratio and experience, can I make the kilt 24 inches instead of 18 inches?” So thankfully, my experience going from my mum and dad and the people I've worked with, you know, you get a feeling for sizes without even meeting someone, but when you're doing a kilt from afar, there's certain little things to watch out for.
V&A Dundee: What is it like to see your kilt on display in a museum?
Howie: I've had a black denim kilt archived in the National Museum of Scotland recently, and to see Sir Billy's kilt in the Tartan exhibition is a dream come true. When I was 18 years old, sitting, sewing my first modern kilt, my dream was to make the kilt more approachable, accessible to the everyday person that maybe doesn't have a clan or even any affiliation to Scotland and just want the freedom and the enjoyment of wearing a kilt. So it really feels like that dream has come true.
