In which I reveal my true reason for signing up to the forum.

**Watson42** · 15th November 10, 07:14 PM

Hello X Markers,

As this is a forum dedicated to kilts and all things related, I am hoping that there is one among you who can answer my question. It's not directly about kilts but it has to do with tartan sashes, so I am hoping that I am posting in the right area. If not, please, correct me in anyway necessary.

I'm getting married in the late spring and would like to wear a tartan sash to honor my Scottish heritage, as well as that of my fiancée. My question is a two parter, in the end.

Part One: As a Watson, am I able to wear the Buchanan tartan?

Part Two: How exactly does one wear a tartan sash anyway?

Many thanks to any who respond.

**MacLowlife** · 15th November 10, 07:23 PM

First, welcome to X Marks.

YOU may wear a tartan sash any way you choose, but I believe in traditional Highland dress men do not wear sashes much. If I were you, I'd think about a cummerbund, or if you are feeling daring, something along the lines of a confederate general's sash. If you are going to be very dressed up- as in white tie, or even black tie, I suppose, you could wear a sash beneath your jacket, a la King Edward. I did some checking one time and sashes of that type look a lot like Boy Scouts' merit badge sashes. If you can't get one made like that, you might just get a wide ribbon and hook it with a rosette at the overlap. But I'd opt to have it made and I'd try to make it about 4 inches wide.

As for Watsons and Buchanans, you will have to wait for someone more knowledgeable.

Meanwhile, congratulations- be extra sweet to your sweetie in this process. You are a lucky man.

(I have written all of the above assuming that you ARE a man. If not, please let us know, so that someone can tell you how women traditionally wear sashes...)

**Watson42** · 15th November 10, 07:36 PM

Oops! This is what I get for choosing a less than feminine screenname and not being more clear in my request for knowledge.

But, thank you for the information. I think I may be able to put it to use in the future for any formal events.

And I'm trying to be as sweet as I can, maybe eating more sugar will help me with that!

**ctbuchanan** · 15th November 10, 08:04 PM

Watson is a recognized sept (associated family) of the Clan Buchanan so you are certainly entitled to wear any of the several variations of the Buchanan tartans.

There is a Watson family tartan as well based, I believe, on the Nova Scotia tartan because of the many Watsons who emigrated there. So you could also wear that.

Women : The sash is worn over the right shoulder across the breast and under the left arm. It is secured by a pin or small brooch on the right shoulder. The left shoulder is reserved for the wife of a clan chief, so it would be improper to wear it there.

Aye,

**ctbuchanan** · 15th November 10, 08:10 PM

This article will also give you some guidance.
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...dlyon_sash.htm

In my family here in the states we also have adopted the custom of pinning the tartan at weddings, especially with two of Scottish ancestry.

"Following the proclamation that they were now man and wife, the pinning of the tartan would take place. Each family would customize this, depending on whether the bride or the groom was being accepted into the other’s clan.

For instance, if the bride were marrying into the groom’s clan, any member of the groom’s family would present the bride with clan tartan. This might have been a rosette or a sash fashioned from their tartan. It would be fastened with the clan badge to the bride’s dress symbolically accepting her into the groom’s clan. Many times the groom himself would pin on the rosette or sash. It can be quite emotional when the groom’s mother does the pinning.

Likewise, if the groom is being accepted into the bride’s family, the roles are reversed.

Whichever way you would choose, this is one of the wedding ceremony customs that’s easy to incorporate in your Scottish theme wedding plans."

Congratulations, by the way and wishes for a long and happy marriage.

**ThistleDown** · 15th November 10, 08:13 PM

Fold the sash in thirds lengthwise. Drape it over your right shoulder with the centre fold on top and the other two folds under. Much now depends on your height and whether that's a 96- or 108-inch sash you are wearing. Start your trial and error with the fringed end hanging from the rise of your buttocks.

Carry the sash across your chest to the left waist and, from there, up your back to your right shoulder. Using your right hand, hold the sash in place at the shoulder and adjust it so that the draping at your waist is a soft flow and the front fringe hangs just over your right breast. To get all that correct you may have to adjust the drop at the back.

Your full-length mirror is your friend here, but you are best to have another friend handy, too. Where the two bits of sash cross at the soft indentation between your collar bone and your shoulder is the place for your sash brooch. You should gather both top and bottom layers together just a pinch so that the sash rests comfortably and doesn't either ride up your neck or hang over your shoulder. The brooch pin goes through both sash layers and the fabric of your dress or blouse.

The brooch should not be something enormous and flashy, and you need to consider other jewellery you will be wearing when you choose it.

Spread the front of the sash out from the brooch downwards, and open the back up so that it drapes well, too. When you sit, gather the sash with your right hand so you are not sitting on it. I have a cousin who sits with the sash over her right forearm and that seems to leave her quite free to use her hand.

The best sashes, by the way, are silk and roughly a foot in width.

Best wishes to you both.

Rex

**ThistleDown** · 15th November 10, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by ctbuchanan

In my family here in the states we also have adopted the custom of pinning the tartan at weddings, especially with two of Scottish ancestry.

"Following the proclamation that they were now man and wife, the pinning of the tartan would take place. Each family would customize this, depending on whether the bride or the groom was being accepted into the other’s clan.

For instance, if the bride were marrying into the groom’s clan, any member of the groom’s family would present the bride with clan tartan. This might have been a rosette or a sash fashioned from their tartan. It would be fastened with the clan badge to the bride’s dress symbolically accepting her into the groom’s clan. Many times the groom himself would pin on the rosette or sash. It can be quite emotional when the groom’s mother does the pinning.

Likewise, if the groom is being accepted into the bride’s family, the roles are reversed.

Whichever way you would choose, this is one of the wedding ceremony customs that’s easy to incorporate in your Scottish theme wedding plans."

That's an interesting new tradition for me. In Scotland the bride frequently retains her family name and even if she adopts her new husband's she most often continues to consider herself a member of her family first, before his.

**Cygnus** · 15th November 10, 09:20 PM

Superfluous post

**The Monk** · 16th November 10, 03:03 AM

http://albanach.org/sash.html

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 16th November 10, 06:00 AM

Thanks to "The Monk" for providing the link to my article about the women's sash. This whole set of rules about having to wear it on this or that shoulder I find completely arbitrary and really has no basis in tradition.

As to the Watson tartan, it was designed in 1932 by the Rev. Mhuir Watson of Glamis Church (apparently). This means it predates the Nova Scotia tartan by a couple of decades.