Ancient tartan patern

[Tobus]

That is kind of what I was after, whether our not plant dyes were being used to create old tartan colors. All of the painting s of early kilts look rich in color almost palpable. I also was wondering if I should expect any natural fading with a newly maid ancient pattern.

As others have said, modern tartan cloth (even in "ancient" color schemes) will be made with modern dyes. However, if you desire the look of a tartan that's been faded with age, you can go with a "weathered" tartan. They are made to look as if they were made from plant-based dyes and then buried in a peat bog for a couple of centuries (that's the description I saw somewhere, but can't remember where).

For example, I notice that your avatar is the Colquhoun tartan, which is also my clan tartan. Borrowing Rocky's images for this example, you can see the modern color scheme, which is very dark and makes no pretense of looking old, looks like this:




The "ancient" colors are lighter, of course, but still have a true color hue (i.e. blue is blue, green is green, etc.):




There is also a "weathered" Colquhoun, which Lochcarron lists but is not a standard in-stock tartan. They won't even do a run of it unless it's a big order. I'm currently having a kilt made in this weathered tartan, as a custom weave by DC Dalgliesh. As you can see, the colors are more faded and earthy, which is intended to re-create a color scheme that's old and faded and, well, weathered.




If you wanted your kilt to look like it was made with plant-based dyes for that rustic faded look, "weathered" is the way to go.