What I can and can't wear?

**ByDand** · 6th April 06, 10:36 AM

Heath, The reality is you can wear just about any tartan that catches your eye. However before wearing the tartan you should at least learn about the Clan or group the tartan was made for so you can explain to those who ask the "What does the tartan mean" question. Just wear it with pride and respect and knowledge!

**highlander_Daz** · 6th April 06, 11:01 AM

So long as you wear oit with Pride and learn a bit about the history of it Good luck

**Mattg** · 6th April 06, 11:04 AM

I think that on a day to day basis it wouldn't much matter what tartan you wear.
Personally for formal occasions I would only wear a tartan that is from my family. That's just me

**Caradoc** · 18th April 06, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by ByDand

Heath, The reality is you can wear just about any tartan that catches your eye. However before wearing the tartan you should at least learn about the Clan or group the tartan was made for so you can explain to those who ask the "What does the tartan mean" question. Just wear it with pride and respect and knowledge!

S'truth.

I prefer the regional tartans, myself, like the "Weathered" Lochaber.

**GlassMan** · 19th April 06, 08:46 AM

There are a lot of really nice "fashion" tartans available with no real ties to clans or districts. These are tartans designed by manufacturers for their looks. A personal favorite of mine is the Prince of Wales tartan. I think it looks very sharp.

**MacSimoin** · 19th April 06, 09:00 AM

Heath,

Have a look at MATTHEW NEWSOME'S PATENTED ADVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME KILT WEARER. I think he does a great job of explaining the ins and outs of kilt wearing in this article and as an answer to your concerns Matt states:

Most people choose to wear a tartan that has some connection with their heritage. But the choice of which tartan to wear is entirely personal. There are no "requirements" to wear a tartan, no "authorizations" needed. You simply pick the tartan you want to wear, whatever your reason.

I agree.

**Kilted KT** · 19th April 06, 09:32 AM

Can we get a sticky on that last post? All too importan info for the newly kilted...

**Monkey@Arms** · 10th August 06, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by Kilted KT

Can we get a sticky on that last post? All too important info for the newly kilted...

I second the motion, that or put a link to it in the article section. If I had read this first it would have radically shortened my learning curve. An excellent resource (as is just about everything that Mathew writes.) For those who haven't found it yet, I also recommend the archive of Mathew's columns.

Best regards,

Jake

**Andrew Green** · 10th August 06, 03:09 PM

You can indeed wear anything you like. I'm still adjusting to this idea (I bought my first non-clan affiliated, and non-neutral tartan kilt earlier this week)... as I have always tried to stick to something I am affiliated with, in one fashion or another, just out of respect. But...that changed when looking at the SWK heavyweights... as I really liked the weathered Lamont tartan... but have NO connections whatsoever as far as I know to clan Lamont. So, to restate what's been said, wear what you like, with pride, and respect. Tartans were originally the product of a local weaver, and have only been "standardized" with the advent of industrialization...which leads perhaps to the idea of something close to a district tartan, but definitely not necessarily something that would have been clan affiliated way back when. This is from various sources, but likely the most knowledgable being Matt Newsome. If you ever have a question about a tartan, he'd probably be the best to ask.