Carolina Kilt At The Opera

[Tartan Hiker]

Looky what I have!

[CelticRanger66]

Awesome!!! Looking really nice!!

[starbkjrus]

Looky what I have!

Hmmm. Both those pics show the green looking more olive than mine. The greem in mine is more grass green. I wonder if it's muted vs. modern or my monitor. Mine is the same weave from DC Dalgliesh & Sons of Selkirk.

[AllenJ]

I think it must be the muted. Man, I really like it that way. The Carolina was always on my "to get" list but seeing that muted tone it may have just given it a boost in the rankings. I think I'd like it heavier than 11 oz though.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Hmmm. Both those pics show the green looking more olive than mine. The greem in mine is more grass green. I wonder if it's muted vs. modern or my monitor. Mine is the same weave from DC Dalgliesh & Sons of Selkirk.

Dee,

Yes, yours was also woven by Dalgleish, but in different colors. When I had the cloth for your kilt woven, I specifically requested he weave it in the old Wilsons of Bannockburn tartan colors.

Brief history lesson. Peter MacDonald, who designed the Carolina tartan (see: http://www.carolinatartan.com/story.htm) is an expert in eighteenth and nineteenth century Scottish textiles and has spent a great deal of time researching the firm William Wilson and Sons of Bannockburn, the first major large scale commercial producer of tartan cloth. Wilsons began using standardized colors for their tartans sometime in the 1760s. Peter MacDonald has been able to research and reproduce these colors. When he was hand weaving tartan cloth on a full-time basis, these were the colors he used. Iin fact, these were the colors he designed and originally wove the Carolina tartan in. (see: http://www.carolinatartan.com/carolina2.jpg).

When Peter retired from full time weaving, he gave the specs of these colors to D. C. Dalgliesh to produce. So when I ordered your Carolina tartan, Dee, I specifically requested these colors.

Now, D. C. Dalgliesh also made the original large run of the Carolina tartan for the Cross Creek Pipes and Drums. (see: http://www.carolinatartan.com/Carolina_strip_1984.jpg) This is in their "reproduction" colors (what most other mills call "weathered"). D. C. Dalgliesh, many years ago (not sure when) was actually the first mill to offer tartans in these colors.

This is how the mill is used to producing the Carolina tartan, so unless you request something different (as I did for Dee's kilt), you'll likely get these colors.

Now, the cloth that Tartan Hiker has appears to be from the run of cotton cloth in the Carolina tartan, which is in different colors yet again (see: http://www.carolinatartan.com/carolina3.jpg) Mostly this is just due to the fact that it was woven by a different mill altogether, in a differnt medium.

My Carolina tartan kilt is in what we'd call today standard modern colors.

Ain't variety great?!

[Tartan Hiker]

Now, the cloth that Tartan Hiker has appears to be from the run of cotton cloth in the Carolina tartan, which is in different colors yet again

Right you are.

Ain't variety great?!

Yep! But having an expert like Matt around is even greater!

[starbkjrus]

Yep! But having an expert like Matt around is even greater!

I quite agree. Thanks for the tartan lesson Matt. I remember now that you told me mine was woven in the Wilson's of Bannockburn colors but had forgotten.

Kewl.

[AllenJ]

Are the "reproduction" colors still available or would that require a new custome weave?

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Are the "reproduction" colors still available or would that require a new custome weave?

The Carolina tartan is not stocked by any mill, so any order at all would have to be custom woven. That means you can pretty much have it in any color scheme you want it in.

M

[BEEDEE]

Looky what I have!

Now that is REALLY unfair to show that to the rest of us in NC!!! What are you going to do with it?

Brian