Tartan for Tartan's Sake

**Tattoo Bradley** · 3rd February 09, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

Many are designed, few are woven.

My youthful alma mater, Oregon State University, had a tartan design contest and this tartan, designed by Krisja Lorenson, won.

http://www.oregonscottish.org/tartan4.jpg

sorry, can't paste it....but even though its "official" can't find the cloth and knowledgeable sources on line say its not woven yet.

So designing is one thing, weaving another.

Ron

Ron, See:
(Kathy Lare can and has done the same thing. If memory serves me O'Neill's O'Neil tartan was acquired by her this way...)

Originally Posted by M. A. C. Newsome

In principal, I advocate for the same thing, which is why I am very glad I am able to acquire custom run lengths of tartan in as little as 4 yards to make a single box pleated kilt from.

**macwilkin** · 3rd February 09, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by Ryan Nielson

I have definately felt out of place having no scottish or irish connection at all. I like the idea of having a family tartan so I have gravitated toward some kind of tartan that have a connection to even if it is a slim one. I have a litle bit of welsh from my mother's side of the family and am looking at St. David's or Welsh National right now even though the connection is pretty slim even though I don't like the look of either of those patterns that much.

I've always admired the original Welsh National tartan that was designed in 1967:

http://www.district-tartans.com/welsh.htm

Regards,

Todd

**Phogfan86** · 3rd February 09, 11:05 AM

I'm a late joiner to this thread, so here's my 2 schillings...

After my initial kilt purchase of two clan tartans (Gunn and Macduff), my kilt collection seems to be growing more according to color than anything else. I just ordered a USA Kilts Douglas Modern casual in small part because I do have some Douglas in my family, but in larger part because I don't have anything green or in a blue that's not really dark.

My other kilts are SWK Night Stalker (black); SportKilt Hunting (gray and dark dreen), SWK Black Watch, and SWK Black Stewart. So, the Douglas purchase was just as much a function of color as anything else. I didn't have that color and I look good in that color so I bought it.

I used to think universal tartans were the red-headed stepchild of the kilt world, but as I've spent time here, that's changed. I wouldn't wear shirts in just one or two colors; why should I do it with my kilts? I'm not going to bail out on a tartan just because it was created by a woman in a wool mill in 1997. If I like it and I can afford it and I can order it without my wife finding out, I will.

**Ryan Nielson** · 3rd February 09, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

I've always admired the original Welsh National tartan that was designed in 1967:

http://www.district-tartans.com/welsh.htm

Regards,

Todd

Yes that shade is very nice. I wish it wouldn't be so hard to get ahold of that material. The one out there you see on sportkilt for example is much much brighter than that.

**macwilkin** · 3rd February 09, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Ryan Nielson

Yes that shade is very nice. I wish it wouldn't be so hard to get ahold of that material. The one out there you see on sportkilt for example is much much brighter than that.

Matt, Barb or Kathy Lare could have a special run in it for you...

Todd

**M. A. C. Newsome** · 3rd February 09, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

Matt, Barb or Kathy Lare could have a special run in it for you...

Todd

House of Edgar stocks it in their 13 oz Old & Rare line.

**ShaunMaxwell** · 3rd February 09, 02:09 PM

I'm not big on wearing tartans with which I have no connection (kilts only... I have no problem wearing any nice plaid shirt), but I can certainly understand the appeal of "fashion" tartans, as many of them are very appealing visually.

I'm not wild about any of the available versions of my family tartan (Maxwell), as they're all pretty garish. Consequently, I've been playing around with the tartan designer software, but have limited myself to staying within the sett of my family tartan but altering the colors.

I know some tartans are available in many versions (hunting, dress, black, etc.). Since I'm keeping the sett, I don't guess that altering the colors would cause the variations to fall into the category of fashion tartans, would it?

Very interesting thread!

**gilmore** · 3rd February 09, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by ShaunMaxwell

...
I'm not wild about any of the available versions of my family tartan (Maxwell), as they're all pretty garish. ...

Have you looked into ancient, weathered or muted versions?

At any rate, to me it's not about the aesthetics of a tartan, but what it signifies.

**ShaunMaxwell** · 3rd February 09, 02:38 PM

Yeah, I've got Modern and Ancient... Looked into Muted... Still pretty loud red and green...

**Rex_Tremende** · 8th February 09, 09:34 AM

Well, I let more time than I intended to go by here before responding to my own post. I've been working on a project for work that has consumed my attention enough to not be able to assemble my thoughts on this with any coherence.

The reason for my internal deliberation on the matter is having now toyed with a tartan design utility, I stumbled across an arrangement of stripes by my own hand that appeals to me a great deal, though I can't explain why exactly. Sure, I chose the colors before I knew what I was going to do with them because I liked them in the first place, but now having put them in a particular sequence, and varying the widths of each to achieve a certain balance, I like them in combination even more - enough so that I'm weighing the decision to go on to have it produced (should it be deemed weave-able) against other intentions that I had already in mind.

Still, I can't shake the feeling that I'm about to enter into a contract for a surrogate child. So let me step back a bit.

I've probably mentioned it before, but the reason I came to kilts in the first place was because I saw them as an alternative to trousers, which, after taking stock of my closet one year, I realized I was totally bored with. I don't see myself as an iconoclast, just a bit of a clothes horse; I like to have options! In my mind at least, the kilt represented acceptable - if out of the ordinary - men's attire I could enjoy mixing it up with, sartorially speaking.

It wasn't until after I joined this group and began listening to others whose motivations were quite different that I started considering the reasons for wearing a kilt in a particular tartan. Many here are quite resolute that the only tartan one should wear should be their own family tartan. Which is fine, if you're Scottish or Scottish-descended and have a particular family tartan to call your own. (All others need not apply, I hear some of the most adamant imply.) Though it turns out I have what I believe to be a decent amount of Scottish ancestry, I don't particularly identify myself that way. Nevertheless, I enjoy playing along and learning about the customs and culture, adopting and employing elements that suit me on the way, doing my best to be appropriately respectful. I don't quite relate to those who wear their tartans like a flag, but I accept that they do.

Try as I might, I'm having trouble connecting with the existing tartans - mostly because they have meanings already ascribed to them. Of the seven tartan kilts that I have owned, currently- or will soon possess, there is only one through which I can draw a tenuous family connection, and it is a 20th century tartan, at that. Many tartans appeal to my eye, but not my soul.

So, I've concluded that maybe for me the best thing that I can do is to wear a tartan that I have designed myself, so that if someone asks, "Is that your family tartan?" I can say, "It is a personal tartan that I designed, and I wear it because it pleases me."

Regards,
Rex.