Kilt Newbie

[davecolorado72]

THanks everyone for the "welcomes". I think I definately did fing the right place to get plugged in.

Ok, first question...what is a "tartan"?

[Livingston]

See that blue and white background on the page? That's the XMarks Tartan. Basically, tartan is a fabric that has a pattern of lines of various colors. Those colors would be in the same order both vertially and horizontally on the fabric. Imagine the pattern you see on the side of this page both vertical as shown and the same thing horizontal.

[GMan]

Don't be afraid to ask. We are all really learning as we go. Of course some have more knowledge than others, but that is good.

[pbpersson]

....and different tartans can mean different things. For instance, the tartan I chose for my avatar is the official tartan of the nation of Sweden. I'm half Swedish so I'm hoping that will be my first "official" tartan when I have one custom-made next year.

When you look at kilts online you will see they are available in some "standard" tartans that are most popular.

[Scottish Chi]

Welcome from Northeast Florida.

Cheers! Bill

[davecolorado72]

So now I am in the position of trying to decide what my first kilt should look like....How did you all decide? There are so many patterns/styles I don't know where to begin. I see also that there are family tartans and I don't want to wear someone else's tartan.....

Any suggestions?

[Rex_Tremende]

Maybe start with your budget?

As someone who's working his way up from easily affordable casual/contemporary to "tank", I'd say if you can afford it, go for a traditional, made-to-measure, 16-oz wool tartan kilt in some generic tartan (such as Braveheart, or the like) as your first. This may also cause you to want to buy all the other accessories at the same time, so you need to factor that in.

Other considerations include how often you want to wear it, and how you want to care for it.

I've been going about it the other way - starting with UKs and progressively getting more serious about style, quality, and personal value. This has also enabled me to buy more kilts early, and accessories as I feel I need them, learning more as I go. As of today, I have nine kilts of varying quality (knockabout to excellent), but I've probably spent enough now for two or three tanks.

Try stating your requirements (not necessarily here, I mean), and see what solutions fit.

Regards,
Rex, still in Project Manager Mode