Picking a Tartan

[CRussell]

Gentlemen,

I could use your wise advice. I’m looking at purchasing a quality kilt in the next six months and I am not sure how to go about picking out a tartan. I’m willing to wear any tartan, not just the universal ones, and there are so many that it’s befuddling. I have two main concerns:

1. I’ve been to the Lochcarron website and looked through their tartan pictures, but my concern is that the very small swatches they have on their website will yield a kilt that looks completely different. I’ve compared a couple of them to pictures of kilts made from them, and at times, they do look completely different.

2. I’m concerned that I’ll pick out a lovely tartan that catches my eye, and when I put it on, it’ll look terrible on me. When I bought the kilt I have now, I was at a Renaissance Festival and they had a few different tartans in different sizes that I could try on. I first went for a stunning blue and white tartan, but when I tried it on, it looked really bad. Even the shopkeep agreed! I ended up getting a kilt in the Government tartan, instead.

Any suggestions on tartan-picking strategies? Am I overthinking all of this?

Many thanks,
Christopher

[AKScott]

If you can trace your lineage to a specific clan, it will probably look fine on you.

Besides the universal setts you might look into the regional or district tartans asscoiated with the area(s) you can call home.

The images on Lochcarron are very good, the trouble is the black background (while consistent) is not one many of us spend much time standing in front of. You might try crop/ copy/ pasting swatches from the Lochcarron pages into a picture of you in a place you like to be.

You may, of course, order swatches, but that can take a while.

I put a couple images of individual threads from the LochCarron modern pallete behind this link:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...tml#post976761

[Silent Raven]

well if your not concerned with a tartan belonging to a clan and are just going for looks then i would do just that. scotweb has a search that is available by color http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan and if you pick a few colors that you may think you would like to wear it would possible help in the decision making process. once you find a tartan you like, do a quick image search for a kilt in that tartan to get a better idea of what it looks like once in kilted form. that's what i would do.

[sydnie7]

In the narrowing-down process, be sure to order swatches from the actual weaver(s) you intend to use (your intended kiltmaker can assist). There are many tales on this forum of variations among the finished fabric from mill to mill.

[Tartan Hiker]

And since, based on the experience of many of the folks on this site this will only be your first of several kilts (), RELAX! You'll soon have a stable full of kilts in all manner of hues to accommodate any mood or situation.

Welcome to the addiction.

[seanachie]

Piggybacking on what Sydnie mentioned...have you selected a kilt maker?
If so then, giving them information like "I am looking for a weathered tartan with an earthy tone", or "I much prefer pleating to the strip vs sett and am interested in these tartans" etc etc. They may give you some suggestions and then if you want order the swatches. There is also a whole section on this forum dedicated to tartans and many knowledeable folks have contributed. I often go back through this area and read through the posts.
Tartan Ferret also is a good tool to play with if you are looking for tartans and are looking for various colors. One last comment...I like a well made kilt, I like to wear the kilt smartly but I don't get too caught up in what you said about do I look good in this tartan. If you like it, wear it well and don't give too much worry to that. Some people are concerned that they draw attention or odd looks from people for wearing the kilt. I, on the other hand relish not being a lemming, one of the herd. I prefer the path less traveled.

[Riverkilt]

Check out the photos and galleries on this site and on kiltmaker's sites to see what different tartans look like when worn.

You don't say where in the World you are living - but if there's a highland games in your area go to it and visit it.

NO tartan looks bad when worn...forget that.

[OC Richard]

What they said!

One of the great things about X Marks the Scot are that among its members you can see just about any tartan that's ever been woven, and see it made up into a kilt and being worn, in the vast number of photos posted.

And when you narrow it down to a few tartans, by all means get actual swatches. Photos can be deceiving.

After wearing kilts regularly for over 30 years, around a year ago I went with Isle of Skye. I had seen swatches of it; I had seen kilts and other things made of it for sale at local Games; I had seen men wearing kilts made of it walking around at local Games; I had seen The Spirit Of Scotland Pipe Band wear it at the World Pipe Band Championships. Every time I saw that tartan it struck me all over again how lovely it is. I have an Isle Of Skye kilt now (Lochcarron Strome) and I never tire of looking at it and I get compliments every time I wear it.

Same with my other kilt, muted Drummond of Perth. I'm struck anew by its beauty every time I see it.

That's my advice for what it's worth- get a lovely tartan you can wear and wear and never tire of seeing.

[Mike_Oettle]

Hi, Christopher, and welcome to X Marks from the bottom end of Africa.
The best tartan for you is the one you like best.
You can choose randomly according to colour, or you can pick one that is appropriate.
There could well be a district tartan for the part of the world you live in. That is a good choice.
Or you can go the clan route, if you know which clan you belong to. Some clans have a variety of tartans, not to mention colour styles (Modern, Ancient, et cetera).
If your clan has no tartan, but you know where in Scotland they came from, you could go for a Scottish district tartan.
You may belong to an organisation that has its own tartan(s). There are tartans for a great variety of special interests too.
And finally there are any number of fashion tartans, one of which may take your fancy.
It’s all up to you!
Regards,
Mike

[Damocles]

this is a heady topic. i was faced with the same desion. i wanted to get my calan tatan but its a rare one and would have cost over 650$ just to get the fabric from scotweb. so i had to pick somthing of the shelf. fortunatly my famly Boswell has a close assoiation with the campbells a relativly comen set of tatans. so thats how i handaled it i looked for commen tartans that altho not directly my clan are or were protecterts of my clan. so maybe you have a clan assocsion that you can look for. in lew of that i wold just go for fasion any one can ware any tartan as long as the owners have not registerd it as restricted. then you must get there permision. most of those are so the clan can make money of there name. but not all!
Paul Baswell