American tartans

[Mel1721L]

As a non American, I may be out of line but what about the Civil War commemorative tartans. I think they are very attractive. I have many ancestors who went to America and fought on both sides. I'd quite like a CSA kilt but would find it difficult to justify wearing.

[RockyR]

Putting aside the feelings of whether or not people like the American Heritage tartan and other comments, I will say this:

When we showed potential customers the "American Tartan" (http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...ls.aspx?ref=66) or the American Bicentennial tartan (http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar...ls.aspx?ref=67), people pretty much unanimously said they were "too bright" or looked like "they were from the 1970's". While I don't think they're all that bad, I recognized as a retailer that the powerful "red / white / blue motif" is a bit much for most men to wear as part of their wardrobe. Also, when you have that much blue and red, where they overlap, you get purple (which for most men is a "love it / hate it" kind of color).

Most men (including myself when I designed the American Heritage tartan in 2006), when given a choice between darker color tartans and brighter color tartans, tend to gravitate toward the darker colors. As that's what most people seemed to prefer (i.e. that's what the customers told us they wanted), that's how we designed the tartan.

That being said, there IS room for more than 1 tartan to represent America! I've done several "American" tartans (including those linked above) for customers over the years, however since they're not readily available in PV cloth (or even wool most times), they are a custom weave which can run upwards of $900 for an 8 yard kilt. If you're not prepared to spend $900 on a kilt (which most aren't), then you're options are the stock tartans that different kilt companies carry. As the OP said he was NOT interested in wool or in a custom run, I've focused on PV cloth.

If you can get enough interest in the American or American Bicentennial tartans for a 130 M run of cloth from the mill (it equates out to about 40 - 50 kilts), then we'd be happy to have it woven for the group. Outside of that, there ARE other bright Universal tartans in PV cloth, like Caledonia, which may be more to your liking.

[Tobus]

I find it oddly ironic that the most popular tartan of all time, Black Watch (in modern colours), is even darker and more drab than the American Heritage tartan.

This thread does touch on a subject that seems to split opinions in the tartan-wearing world. Some folks really love bright, colourful tartans. Others hate it, and want something very dark which doesn't leap out of a person's outfit to slap people in the face. In the old days before tartan proliferation got out of hand, if someone were choosing a universal tartan along these lines, they often would opt for either Royal Stewart (red-based) or Black Stewart (primarily black). Rocky, one of the reasons I think your American Heritage tartan appeals to a lot of people is because it has the same general character as Black Stewart, while being a distinctly American-themed tartan. But obviously, it won't appeal to those who want a bright cheerful tartan. The American (District) and American Bicentennial tartans serve that purpose in their own right.