Outlander tartans: Questions

[freep]

There are others here who know much more than me, but to my knowledge there were few (if any?) recognized clan tartans at the time of the "45." The philabeg, or small kilt existed then, but the modern 8 yard, knife pleated kilt didn`t come into existence until at least a hundred years later, probably more. If you want to learn the history of kilts and tartan, first thing is forget about "Outlander."

I've not seen any philabegs or modern kilts on the show, they've all been great kilts. It's my understanding they wanted tartans but specifically didn't want clan tartans since as you note, there weren't any at that time. It's also my understanding the different tartans don't actually represent clans, they just didn't want everyone wearing the same to avoid the look of 'uniforms.' In the course of filming, the tartan costumes worn by various characters lent the names to the tartans they wear.