Question about appropriate tartans.

[Jock Scot]

I will be manning a poppy station at the exit of an auto assembly plant tomorrow afternoon. Those people are VERY GENEROUS givers.

Oh, well done that man!

[kilted2000]

Would this apply to the Black Watch tartan? It’s regimental obviously, but so widely used.

[Father Bill]

Would this apply to the Black Watch tartan? It’s regimental obviously, but so widely used.

Kind of a 'greyed out' area. It's pretty close to being a Campbell tartan (exactly the same in some versions) but considered by a lot of people to be 'universal' for exactly the reason you cite.

I prefer Steve's idea above, of regional tartans if you're not going clan.

[kilted2000]

Kind of a 'greyed out' area. It's pretty close to being a Campbell tartan (exactly the same in some versions) but considered by a lot of people to be 'universal' for exactly the reason you cite.

I prefer Steve's idea above, of regional tartans if you're not going clan.

I do have a clan tartan, but what about people who do not? Especially people who either don’t know what part of Scotland their ancestors came from, or people who want to wear kilts but have no known Scottish heritage?

[Father Bill]

I do have a clan tartan, but what about people who do not? Especially people who either don’t know what part of Scotland their ancestors came from, or people who want to wear kilts but have no known Scottish heritage?

There are always regional tartans. They don't require that you come from the region, and to be honest, as a member of XMarks, there's every reason to wear the XMarks tartan that is the background of this site, and is the one the fellows in the header are all wearing. You'll get more suggestions within the next day or so too - I'm sure of it.

[Bruce Scott]

I do have a clan tartan, but what about people who do not? Especially people who either don’t know what part of Scotland their ancestors came from, or people who want to wear kilts but have no known Scottish heritage?

There are always regional tartans. They don't require that you come from the region, and to be honest, as a member of XMarks, there's every reason to wear the XMarks tartan that is the background of this site, and is the one the fellows in the header are all wearing. You'll get more suggestions within the next day or so too - I'm sure of it.

There are many choices. In addition to district tartans there are numerous "fashion" tartans such as those at the links below:

https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/qr...g=pride&Page=1 (three pages of them)

https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/qR...String=fashion

https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/qR...hString=autumn

[McMurdo]

I'll put a plug in for the Scottish wildcat Tartan, which I designed and which was thought up and developed by members of this forum. I may be biased but I don't think there is a better universal tartan out there.

[Tomo]

I tend to view clan tartans as a 19th Century re-imagining - most have little or no provenance beyond then.

So on one level wear what you will.

That said, I do have 3 kilts in my clan tartan - and my brother has another. There's a connection and a tale to tell - even if it only goes back to the 1820s.

It's only more recently that I have acquired a couple of universal tartans. Both of these are ex-rental. I do some guiding work in Scotland and didn't want to wreck my good kilts (driving and hiking up to 10 hours a day). One is a "house" tartan from McCalls - Hunting Pride - a very unusual olive green and black, with cream and yellow. The other - picked up from Slanj - is Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) which is navy and green, with lilac, black and white.



These days there is an ever increasing choice of universal tartans so plenty to go at, the more "traditional" are Black Watch and Royal Stuart, but as mentioned above there are various regional and city tartans, as well as some more recent creations - e.g. Isle of Skye and there are even Shetland and Orkney Tartans (although there is little tradition of wearing kilts in the Northern Isles).

[kilted2000]

I doubt I would ever wear a clan or family tartan that I had no connection to, and because I wouldn’t want to represent myself as something I’m not I’m probably not going to buy a kilt in a regimental tartan anytime soon, but I don’t see the problem with the so called universal tartans. Obviously not all tartans are readily available from all kiltmakers. The USA Kilts casual kilt is only available in a very small number of tartans for example. Some might say that as I’m American, and have only spent a few days of my life in Scotland, although over a year of my life if we include the rest of the UK, I shouldn’t wear a symbol of Scotland such as the kilt. My first name is from old French, my middle name is from the lowlands of Scotland and doesn’t really have a tartan, and my surname is old English. I’m distantly related to the clan Urquhart on my mother’s side, but my blood is hardly overflowing with the water of Loch Ness. I have an Urquhart kilt, but if I wanted another kilt, what’s wrong with me having one in a universal tartan such as Isle of Skye or even the Scottish National tartan? The way I see it, if someone asks me what my kilts tartan is and why I’m wearing it, and I have a better answer than “I just liked the pattern,” why not? I could be wrong though, so I’m looking for guidance. I don’t want to offend, or misrepresent myself. I’m just an idiot who likes kilts and wants to get back into wearing them after many years of only trousers. Sorry if this sounds like a rant, or doesn’t make any sense. It’s currently 3:34 AM where I am, so I’m a little tired.

[Tomo]

I doubt I would ever wear a clan or family tartan that I had no connection to, and because I wouldn’t want to represent myself as something I’m not I’m probably not going to buy a kilt in a regimental tartan anytime soon, but I don’t see the problem with the so called universal tartans. Obviously not all tartans are readily available from all kiltmakers. The USA Kilts casual kilt is only available in a very small number of tartans for example. Some might say that as I’m American, and have only spent a few days of my life in Scotland, although over a year of my life if we include the rest of the UK, I shouldn’t wear a symbol of Scotland such as the kilt. My first name is from old French, my middle name is from the lowlands of Scotland and doesn’t really have a tartan, and my surname is old English. I’m distantly related to the clan Urquhart on my mother’s side, but my blood is hardly overflowing with the water of Loch Ness. I have an Urquhart kilt, but if I wanted another kilt, what’s wrong with me having one in a universal tartan such as Isle of Skye or even the Scottish National tartan? The way I see it, if someone asks me what my kilts tartan is and why I’m wearing it, and I have a better answer than “I just liked the pattern,” why not? I could be wrong though, so I’m looking for guidance. I don’t want to offend, or misrepresent myself. I’m just an idiot who likes kilts and wants to get back into wearing them after many years of only trousers. Sorry if this sounds like a rant, or doesn’t make any sense. It’s currently 3:34 AM where I am, so I’m a little tired.

Makes perfect sense and nothing wrong with picking a universal tartan - the two you have referenced are v. popular.

It's unlikely, you will ever have to justify your choice of tartan, at best - it's more likely you will be asked what the tartan is (and even then perhaps not very often) - but it's always good to be able to spin a yarn. I can't see anyone being offended (other than perhaps with those tartans which are strongly or solely connected to the military - Black Watch being an exception).