Which tartan is it and where should I buy my kilt?

[Dirk81]

Halò out there,
I want to buy me first kilt. However, I do not live near a kiltmaker so I have to order it online. What are your experiences with online orders? Is it difficult to get the measurements right so that you get a good fitting kilt?
Which fabric should I use? It shouldn't look cheap and it is not for everyday use... perhaps weddings and so on (as a guest... )

Next question I have: Which tartan is Ewan McGregor wearing here? It looks quite dark for a modern MacGregor... any ideas?

Thank you very much!

[Scott R]

Welcome! I wouldn't worry at all about ordering on-line, I do not live near a kilt maker and I have been able to obtain great fitting kilts. Every site that I have been on, the kilt maker has diagrams and/or descriptions about where the measurements should be taken from. If I had any questions I would just call or e-mail the kilt maker.

Regarding on where to by your kilt, I would not hesitate to buy any kilt from the makers on this forum. Investigating and deciding on which kilt to purchase is always an exciting experience for me and I hope you enjoy it too.

I do believe that the tartan is the Modern MacGregor.

[figheadair]

I do believe that the tartan is the Modern MacGregor.

Indeed it is.

[Dirk81]

Cheers! Thank's for your fast replies.

And these tartans look so different on each website I'm looking at... I just don't want it to be too light green. Any suggestions where I can get the darker modern tartan? Which mill?

Or anyone in here who could ask Ewan himself?

[mookien]

... I just don't want it to be too light green. Any suggestions where I can get the darker modern tartan? Which mill? ...

If you want to choose just the right colors for you, I suggest asking your kilt maker to order the tartan from Dalgliesh. Their MacGregor Modern may be seen at ...

http://www.dcdalgliesh.co.uk/tartan_found.rpy?id=107467

Notice that the default colors include Green 20, which is pretty dark. If you want an even darker green, you can specify, for example, Green 10. Click on "stock yarn range" above the pictures of the yarn spools and you will be taken to the page that shows the available yarn colors.

Good luck, and post pictures of your kilt, when it and you are ready.

[Paul Henry]

There is no actual "proper" colour each weaver has their own variations and that is not even including Modern/Ancient variations as well,I've found two pictures of kilts I've sewn from two different weavers

this is from Marton Mills


and this one is from House of Edgar

[usonian]

Gauging colors from mill to mill on a computer monitor is a tricky business - there are many factors that can affect how a tartan looks in a photograph (photo exposure, white balance, digital manipulation of contrast/levels/color balance, monitor calibration, etc.) - it's definitely worth narrowing your choices down to a handful of candidates based on web images, and then ordering swatches so you can see exactly what they look like in real life.

[piperdbh]

Any of the kliltmakers who advertise here will do a good job for you. I can personally recommend Matt Newsome at Newhouse Highland.

[MacGumerait]

Dirk 81 ,

Welcome to XMarks , you will find there are many great vendors here and many great individual kiltmakers , they will all help guide you on your kilt . I think you have made a wise choice by asking the folks here on this forum .

In regards to some of your questions :

1. It should not be hard to get the measurements correct , you should be able to do quite well with measurements if you check out the tutorials on many of the vendor sites.

2. You said you don't want it to look cheap as it's not for every day use and what fabric to use . The answer there is to use a 16 oz fabric and order an 8 yd traditional kilt . The look , wear , feel , hang and swish of a full 8 yarder can't be beat , it's first rate all the way .

3. When choosing which mill to order from can be tricky as usonian stated , computer images only give you a general idea . If you know the tartan you want ( which you do ) , then order swatches from the mill or mills as usonian recommended . The bold or soft look of any tartan can vary from mill to mill , so if you have a prefernce , the best thing to do is see it in real life by means of the swatches .

I don't claim to be an expert by any means , but I hope this helps a wee bit .

Best to ya , Mike

[figheadair]

Gauging colors from mill to mill on a computer monitor is a tricky business - there are many factors that can affect how a tartan looks in a photograph (photo exposure, white balance, digital manipulation of contrast/levels/color balance, monitor calibration, etc.) - it's definitely worth narrowing your choices down to a handful of candidates based on web images, and then ordering swatches so you can see exactly what they look like in real life.

Absolutely right. But if I may, a point of correction on terminology. People often confuse colour and shade and use them interchangeably, especially colour when they mean shade and this often leads those with less knowledge to refer to clan x as having two tartans; a dark one and a bright one for instance. The two examples shown by Paul are the same colour but they are woven in different shades. Red is red etc but qualified as light, dark and so on. Where it gets interesting is when one strays into the realm of Reproduction and Weathered tartans where the colours have actually been changed. Technically one could argue that they are different tartans, especially the Weathered range – I’ve never seen an example of an old piece actually fading like either an don’t see how the traditional dyes would fade/stain un-uniformly like the two ranges suggest.