choosing a tartan

**CaptainZap** · 6th December 11, 08:14 PM

I know this has been posted befor but I can not find where. I know many tartans are clan spicific but in this day and age would it be considered inapropriate to pick a tartan because you like the colors or would you stick to a more ginaric tartan?
I want to get another kilt but can't make up my mine on which way to go.

Tom

**AKScott** · 6th December 11, 09:32 PM

There are three categories of tartan a gentleman must recognize.

First, restricted. The Balmoral tartan is the alpha in this herd, to wear the Balmoral tartan you are supposed to have explicit permission from HM Elizabeth to even buy the cloth. Can you buy it and have a kilt made from it, probably. Would it be in extremely poor taste to do so, absolutely.

Next, respectful. Personally, I really like the MacLeod, the bright yellow one we have all seen, the MacLeods refer to it as "Loud MacLeod". Another one is the USMC leatherneck tartan. Can you buy it? Absolutely. Should you wear it if you aren't a US Marine or a MacLeod? It depends on which marine or MacLeod you ask.

Fianlly, the universal setts that anyone can wear, "no Scottish blood required as long as they have a bit of Scottish in their heart." This is an enormous category. Black Watch, the many and various Stewart setts, it goes on and on.

Another avenue of exploration would be the regional and district tartans. If you hail from North or South Carolina, or can build a legitimate connection the Carolina tartan is really quite fetching. I must admit as an alum of UNC-CH I am a bit stuck on ordering a red kilt in my clan red or the Carolina. Heaven help you if you a Clemson alum of course ;-)

If you choose a clan tartan to which you have no genetic connection, do your hoemwork. You might someday meet soemone who might take umbrage. If you can trot out, "I bought this one because it is the prettiest sett in the entire registry," you'll likely get away with it, it might be even better to be able to say, "I really admire/ respect/ connect with the clan chief's achievements/ efforts/ push towards high quality sheep/ art museums/ green energy" Or something.

In general if you are wearing it respectfully it will probably be OK. Except for the Balmoral. Her Majesty will send you a personal git of your own to hound you day and night until you send the item back. And really a gentleman would never do that anyway. While you are shopping learn to recognize the Balmoral and if you ever see someone wearing it, know what you are seeing.

**Silent Raven** · 6th December 11, 09:36 PM

as I and most folks will say here "wear what you like" its very hard to identify a tartan and most people can only identify a small handful by memory. so by wearing a tartan that is not yours, most regular people wouldn't even give you a second glance or ask if you if you "belong to a certain clan". so where what you like whether its based on colors or some other reason. i know that a lot of people might take it as a sign of respect if you wear their family colors. so go ahead and pick the pretty one!

**AKScott** · 6th December 11, 09:38 PM

Balmoral on the register:

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...s.aspx?ref=182

**madmacs** · 6th December 11, 10:40 PM

Which do you want to wear?

Personally I'd go with the wear what you like too...

**ccga3359** · 6th December 11, 11:12 PM

Wear what you want. The only caveat is to have knowledge of what you're wearing.

As AKScott mentioned that the Balmoral is a restricted tartan of the royal family unless you have permission from her majesty, or, if I'm not mistaken, have some material laying about like our own learned gent Mr. Newsome. As I have no Scottish blood I was faced with the same quandry. I set up my own rules for myself. No military tartans as I never served (a dozen years in the Canadian coast guard auxiliary is service but the closest tartan is the USCG - Military and U.S. so I have ruled that out. I do have a clan tartan - McLachlan that I wear in honour of a friend's late mother that treated me as part of the family. For tartans, being Canadian, I'm fortunate that we have a (recently officially recognized) national tartan, Maple Leaf and official and unofficial provincial tartans. Of which the Ontario tartan I had to have specially woven. As I understand it I now have the only 16oz 8 yard kilt in the official Ontario tartan in the country (all the others are apparently 13oz.).

Long winded reply I know but I did a little research (I didn't want to step on anyone's toes) and found I have a couple of national tartans and 6 provincial tartans to choose from alone. Use tartan ferret to start your own search. Or go ahead and wear what you want, the tartan ferret can search by colour as well.

**Silent Raven** · 6th December 11, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by ccga3359

Wear what you want. The only caveat is to have knowledge of what you're wearing.

*** too that. if and when you do choose a tartan be sure you know what you are wearing, so when some one asks you can tell them, and not look like a fool, it would be like wearing a shirt of a band and knowing nothing of that band. on the other hand, kilts do come in solid colors and non-tartan patterns as well!

**Tobus** · 7th December 11, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by Silent Raven

as I and most folks will say here "wear what you like" its very hard to identify a tartan and most people can only identify a small handful by memory. so by wearing a tartan that is not yours, most regular people wouldn't even give you a second glance or ask if you if you "belong to a certain clan". so where what you like whether its based on colors or some other reason. i know that a lot of people might take it as a sign of respect if you wear their family colors. so go ahead and pick the pretty one!

If we're being honest here, I think the people who take it as a sign of respect for someone to wear their clan tartan as a fashion tartan are in the minority. Likely the vast majority of people who are affiliated with clans would not appreciate other people choosing it just because it's pretty. The sense of entitlement to wear clan tartans (even though no such entitlement actually exists) is very pervasive out there in kilt-wearing circles. Even if they don't say anything, they probably still don't care for their clan tartan being worn by non-clan-affiliated people.

After all, to many people clan tartans are a meaningful symbol. And like any symbol, if it is used willy-nilly or without any meaning behind it, then it loses its meaning. People can feel threatened by the idea of their family's symbol losing its meaning.

So IMHO, if you decide to wear a clan tartan with which you have absolutely no familial connection, you might end up some day having to defend your wearing of it to someone who challenges your entitlement. There are indeed people out there who will confront kilt-wearers on their tartans. So if you do choose a clan tartan, just make sure you have your defense prepared.

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 7th December 11, 06:21 AM

For what it's worth, I don't have any Balmoral tartan material laying about....

I do have a child's kilt in the Balmoral tartan, from the 1930s, which was well before the time when the Royal Family decided to restrict its use and availability.

We now return to your regular programming....

**Riverkilt** · 7th December 11, 06:52 AM

There's yet another option - using the Loud MacLeod example above you can have a kilt that "looks like" the Loud MacLeod, but technically isn't - the Marton Mills cloth that they market as MacLeod has different black squares than the clan tartan...but it looks similar. So, if you chose to have a fling with a bright yellow tartan, you wouldn't actually be stepping on any MacLeod toes.