Is there anything like a registry for Scottish Tweeds

[jsrnephdoc]

I'm curious because I'm interested in getting a waistcoat that I could wear for summer outdoor events either WITH or WITHOUT one of my kilt jackets. Many of the retailers (St. Kilda, Kinloch Anderson, USA Kilts, and others) offer different takes on the cut of waistcoats (with and without lapels, satin vs, tweed fabric back, with or without pocket flaps, number and style of buttons, etc, but the fabrics typically bear retailer-specific product codes that don't identify their origin.

So, I'm wondering how one goes about choosing the fabric other than asking for a swatch of what looks good on a website "electronic swatch jpeg," but also curious how the mills who weave tweeds compete with each other regarding fabrics that look identical or very similar but come from different mills.

One reason for this quest is that many of the summer highlands games in the US are held in hot climates, where a sun drenched day in an Argyll jacket could make a spectator perspire almost as much as a caber tosser. Why not just wear a shirt? Because my particular shape has mandated suspending my kilts on my body with the help of suspenders, which I prefer not to display. A waistcoat is less stifling than a jacket but hides the braces.

Thanks so much.

[figheadair]

Simple answer, no, there is no registry for Scottish Tweeds. In fact, there is no register for Scottish Tartans as opposed to the Scottish Register of Tartans- not the same thing at all.

[CBH]

Simple answer, no, there is no registry for Scottish Tweeds. In fact, there is no register for Scottish Tartans as opposed to the Scottish Register of Tartans- not the same thing at all.

What is that supposed to mean ?

We all know and reference https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index

Seems real and official to me..........

[kilted2000]

What is that supposed to mean ?

We all know and reference https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index

Seems real and official to me..........

I think he means that the registry is Scottish and it is of all tartan not just Scottish tartan. As opposed to being a registry of specifically Scottish tartans.

[jsrnephdoc]

I think he means that the registry is Scottish and it is of all tartan not just Scottish tartan. As opposed to being a registry of specifically Scottish tartans.

Demonstrating that I did not phrase my initial question correctly. My understanding of how the Scottish Registry of Tartans is that it's descriptive both of older tartans and that new tartans can be registered as well, and that WHEN new tartans are registered, the registrant may control the right of woolen (or other fabric) mills to weave it or allow other mills to weave it as well.

The intent of my question was to ask whether when someone designs a tweed could the designer limit the rights of individual mills to weave it, or even whether there WAS anything analogous to the Scottish Registry of Tartans that enables a description of the tweed that mills could use to weave the same tweed, if permitted to do so.

I am aware that there are some arcane rules regarding the naming of CERTAIN tweeds: e.g., "Harris" tweed needing to be woven in a circumscribed region, I think by weavers working in their own homes and selling there to a small list of fabric houses.

[figheadair]

Demonstrating that I did not phrase my initial question correctly. My understanding of how the Scottish Registry of Tartans is that it's descriptive both of older tartans and that new tartans can be registered as well, and that WHEN new tartans are registered, the registrant may control the right of woolen (or other fabric) mills to weave it or allow other mills to weave it as well.

The intent of my question was to ask whether when someone designs a tweed could the designer limit the rights of individual mills to weave it, or even whether there WAS anything analogous to the Scottish Registry of Tartans that enables a description of the tweed that mills could use to weave the same tweed, if permitted to do so.

I am aware that there are some arcane rules regarding the naming of CERTAIN tweeds: e.g., "Harris" tweed needing to be woven in a circumscribed region, I think by weavers working in their own homes and selling there to a small list of fabric houses.

The SRT has some old and some new Tartans in its database but by no means all of either category. There is no requirement to register a tartan and doing so offers no legal protection. Some modern designs are protected in law by being registered with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) but that protection is limit, to a maximum of 20 years I think. The only old tartan that is restricted is the Balmoral and that is at the request of the Monarch and the coalesce of the weavers.

Harris Tweed is defined in law and protected by an Act of Parliament but the majority of the individual designs are not regisitered or protected and in theory most designs could be woven by any weaver. There are a couple of mills that have traditionally woven the Estate tweeds, some of which are technically tartan, but it is more a case of the estate commissioning a run and so controlling it as opposed a fashion type tweed where there is less control. That said, there is a sort of gentleman's agreement and designs are often kept in house. Harris tweed is slightly different because the tweed company provides the design to the individual weaver and they then weave it as a form of piece work.

Technically, a tweed weaver could protect a design by registering it with the IPO. I have no idea if any actually are.