{"id":641533,"date":"2025-12-19T04:11:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T04:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641533\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T04:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T04:11:17","slug":"edinburgh-kilt-hire-shop-to-close-doors-after-nearly-110-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/641533\/","title":{"rendered":"Edinburgh kilt hire shop to close doors after\u00a0nearly 110\u00a0years"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE historic\u00a0Bowdens\u00a0kilt<\/a> hire shop in Leith has\u00a0announced that\u00a0it\u00a0will close after 109 years in operation, with lingering effects from the Covid-19 pandemic<\/a> and the current \u201ceconomic climate\u201d blamed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bowdens\u00a0first opened on Easter Road<\/a> in 1916\u00a0and\u00a0has been described as \u201cScotland\u2019s oldest independent formal hire company\u201d, providing\u00a0kilts and formalwear for weddings, ceilidhs, school\u00a0proms\u00a0and special occasions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thousands of Leithers<\/a> and\u00a0locals have passed through the\u00a0shop\u2019s\u00a0doors to hire formalwear\u00a0over the years, but\u00a0Edinburgh now appears set to lose the institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Owner David Hughes confirmed the news in a statement following social media reports, and cited new parking restrictions in Leith as another reason for the closure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bowdens'<\/a>Bowdens\u2019 business model has undergone a series of changes in its hundred years of operation on Easter Road (C) Google<\/p>\n

David Hughes, who has owned the shop for more than ten years, cited after-effects from Covid, the economic climate, and council parking restrictions as reasons for the shop\u2019s closure.<\/p>\n

Speaking today, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s the backlog from Covid and the economic climate \u2013 those are the main reasons [for the closure].<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some other wee things like the council \u2013 everything round here is pay and display now.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Covid, he added: \u201cWe were absolutely rammed and then it stopped, and the economic climate means that you\u2019re getting the wedding parties, but you\u2019re not getting the guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

David described being forced to shut down as \u201chorrible\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIn three years I might\u2019ve done it, because then I\u2019d be at retirement age.<\/p>\n

David bought the shop in 2015 after the couple that bought the company from the Bowden family split up, and business was healthy in the years following.<\/p>\n

On the history of the shop, he added: \u201cWe started as gents outfitters in 1916, then we went into the hire industry in 1963.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen two years later the company went into uniforms, and we did a lot of uniforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lighthouse keepers got their uniforms from here, the council, all the court officers in Scotland got their uniforms from here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire brigade got stuff, the police got stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost most of those contracts because they\u2019re not there anymore, not because we actually lost them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lighthouse keepers were all done away with in one fell swoop because it became automated overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we lost all those contracts, but we were still doing okay because the hire was really busy for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cBut then it got harder with the banking crisis \u2013 a lot of stuff got shut down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were still able to do it, but we\u2019re just not able to do it anymore now.\u201d<\/p>\n

David also mentioned trouble across the sector, with other kilt hire shops in West Lothian and Edinburgh forced to close recently.<\/p>\n

The shop\u00a0remains\u00a0open\u00a0at the moment\u00a0for a closing down sale, in an attempt to unload the last of their stock.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0its\u00a0website,\u00a0Bowdens\u00a0outlined\u00a0its\u00a0mission statement: \u201cScotland\u2019s oldest independent formal hire company,\u00a0Bowdens\u00a0has an illustrious past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt owes its success however, not to the achievements of yesteryear, but to the professional service it provides in the here and now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool proms,\u00a0ceilidhs,\u00a0weddings, and special occasions in Scotland call for special attire to suit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u00a0added: \u201cBowdens\u00a0stock a range of tartan kilts along with all the accessories are an integral part of Scotland\u2019s national dress: sporrans, socks and\u00a0sgian\u00a0dubh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0have to be tartan:\u00a0Bowdens\u00a0also supplies formalwear and offering\u00a0same day\u00a0service of dinner suits also including tailcoats and frock coats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a one-off event, you can hire the complete outfit, but if it\u2019s likely to see repeat usage, it may be worth making a purchase.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Locals have expressed their shock at the news, commenting on a Facebook post about the closure with condolences, well-wishes, memories of the shop.<\/p>\n

David plans to close for good as soon as Bowdens can sell the last of its stock.<\/p>\n

There is no set final day of operation.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE historic\u00a0Bowdens\u00a0kilt hire shop in Leith has\u00a0announced that\u00a0it\u00a0will close after 109 years in operation, with lingering effects from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[197298,197299,748,197300,197301,3386,161380,1102,197302,4884,197303,197304,197305,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-641533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-bowdens","9":"tag-bowdens-kilt-hire","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-business-closed-for-good","12":"tag-business-shut-down","13":"tag-covid","14":"tag-easter-road","15":"tag-edinburgh","16":"tag-edinburgh-kilt-hire","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-kilt-hire","19":"tag-leith-business","20":"tag-leith-kilt-hire","21":"tag-scotland","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115744282430574957","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}