Newbe Question alert: Okay to wear other tartan?

[Robin]

Observation:

Many old tartans have purple or pink.

[auld argonian]

Observation:

Many old tartans have purple or pink.

Wouldn't that be because of vegetable and other natural dyes? It's my understanding that the modern versions of most tartans (and modern is a relative term, isn't it?) contain colors that are much more brilliant and saturated than the older ones bcause they used chemical dyes.

Best

AA

[Robin]

That's very possible, but I also read...can't remember where...pink used to be a "manly" color.

Maybe Matt Newsome can tell us more :rolleyes:

[McClef]

That's very possible, but I also read...can't remember where...pink used to be a "manly" color.

Maybe Matt Newsome can tell us more :rolleyes:

Men's fashions have changed through the centuries and what colours they wore have also.

For a lot of the 20th Century pink was considered to be rather camp and many men eschewed it but it started to make a comeback for shirts, jumpers etc so why not also for kilts?

I bought a lovely pink jumper in Marks and Spencer's a couple of weeks ago but it looked a little OTT with my Black Watch tartan yet contrasts nicely with my Royal Stewart.

[auld argonian]

The pink thing is rather funny, isn't it? Having red hair and pale skin, I stuck to blue dress shirts for a long time. Eventually I tried a pink dress shirt and it looked good on me...I mean, obviously, there are a lot of different shades of pink but if you find one that works, you go with it. I also had found a couple of shades of purple that worked...now bear in mind that this was in the eighties and early nineties so there were several shades of purple available and I found a couple that worked visually...nowadays those shades are "out" so no purple shirts.

It all depends on how a color looks on you as an individual. I could see some purple in a kilt but not as a primary color...maybe as an accent color or part of the background. Pink, I just couldn't see at all...plus it would be hard to find things to go with it. I'm not a stickler for perfectly matching accessories or shirts but pink would be a tough one.

Best

AA

[McClef]

I designed a tartan that contains an accent of pink which I thinks looks rather good.

I would be happy to post it but I haven't yet worked out how to put a piccie on here.

Would be grateful for advice on how you do it!

[pdcorlis]

If I remember right - I think the Alberta provence tartan has a pink accent in it.

[bubba]

I was told that modern dyes aren't any more saturated or bright than the old vegetable dyes initially. The difference is vegetable dyes fade much more easily and quickly than the modern chemical dyes with exposure to sun and weather.