Hunting Stewart Kilt in Reproduction Colours from D.C. Dalgliesh

[Nathan]

Would you wear the kilt in front of Cluny? If the answer is no, there's your answer...

[creagdhubh]

Would you wear the kilt in front of Cluny? If the answer is no, there's your answer...

Definitely, no.

[Benning Boy]

Oh man! This whole discussion is so 1820s. I'm with the Wizard on this one.

[Singlemalt]

I would say go for it. My best kilts are all my family tartan but I do have two "casual" kilts in Hunting Stewart. I enjoy wearing them as well. They are universal so I know I am not offending anyone and my first kilt was in this tartan. When I was a small boy maybe 7 or 8 my mother made me a kilt in Hunting Stewart and my brother one in Royal Stewart. I am sure she did not have a lot of options for material in the rural area I was raised. We wore them to Church every Sunday and on special occasions. I liked to wear it and have always had at least one kilt since then, my brother not so much so. He has a kilt today but never wears it. Funny how some things stick with people and others not.

[TheOfficialBren]

Kyle, what about a MacPherson sett in weathered colours? Surely one of the weavers does this? MacPherson tartans are in high demand.

[James Hood]

As a hopeless history geeek for ever and a believer that history should be served cold but with a liberal spicing of Zeitgeist and imagination to fill in some long ago blanks, perhaps sorta kinda give your longing for strange tartan (STS, strange tartan syndrome ???) a look in this misty light.

Imagine ye are back in your blood's fatherland, three hundred an' a score years ago, there war nae' flippin' coopyrights oor boooks a' tartan patterns and claims t' ever' this an' that.

Be imaginin' lad, ye war on a lang sea voyage an' be coomin' home wi' a wee fortune in yar spooran an' sea chest.

And ye gooz to the local weaver and tells her, aye, this pattern I thought o' in me idle hours at sea (Or saw in Egypt, while ye war tradin' silk for cold steel). Can ye weave me enough far a bonnie braw kilt?

Would it be a breach of manners or clan loyalty, then? "Pre-documentation"

And the noble and splendid Hamish referenced and lauded in these e-pages, does he not wear some tartans which are not his "own"?

Besides that, Caledonia is nae sae big as, say, Africa. 'Be thinkin, lad, ye got mar clans' bloood in yar manly DNA than yar moost earnest 2014 research turns up.

What's it say aboot who wed who or shacked up with who on moonlit nights in 1046 and 1359 or conceived an undocumented ancestor in the heather in 1410?

Makes a man ponder, aye, it do.

However, waiting until the acquisition fire cools...and then deciding to go for it, has merit. While not a tattoo, it is an expense. This writer believes, sometimes ye gotta think ootside th' kilt box, aye, ye do. Ye feel a wee bit like one o' those wild, independent-minded Celts of yore...?

Just one person's opinion.

And Life Rule # 2 taught endlessly to the daughters; "Life is much too serious to take too seriously"

[artificer]

I'd like to both echo the surprise at your potential deviation from Clan tartans and say that I think you should probably hold off a bit longer to think more about it.

It's not a problem with the tartan itself, which is lovely, but the fact that you seem deeply attached (as others have noted) to your clan tartans.

I think you'd probably end up wearing it a few times and, when the excitement wore off, you'd default back to your clan tartans and this one would hang in the closet for a few years before you sell it off.

Again, not my call to make, but you did ask.

ith:

[KD Burke]

I have thought of this particular tartan in the past, but Dalgliesh does not offer it as a stock tartan and I'm not so sure that I am willing to spend a small fortune on a custom weave 8-yard kilt, especially when prices continue to increase. Lochcarron carries the Hunting Gow (Smith) tartan in weathered colours in their heavyweight Strome range. It looks quite nice, and I'm sure it's less expensive than Dalgliesh.

Kyle, not sure we've had the pleasure of conversing before, but as someone who has embarked on the custom weave adventure more than once (or twice!) perhaps I can offer a word.

There is a certain pleasure that comes from owning a truly unique item of kit. Particularly when that item has personal significance. I humbly submit that such an item would see far more use and deliver a pride of ownership that a universal (generic?) kilt could never match.

Perhaps while you continue pondering, you should save an extra few dollars for a custom weave. Perhaps in Wilson's colors...

[FatherWilliam57]

Just ran across this thread. Knowing your commitment to your own clan tartan, this all seems so sudden. Had you said you were looking seriously at the Leatherneck tartan, I would not have been so surprised (there is that "connection" and "commitment" thing again). But, I too question how often you would wear the Hunting Stewart once you possess it...based entirely on your own stated position over the years. Whatever you do, be sure to enjoy it to the fullest.

[KD Burke]

One additional point , if I may.
In my opinion, it is well worth waiting for something unique and wonderful. I waited over two years for a custom sgian dubh from Rab Gordon at Rainnea.

No one who has ever seen it would confuse it with the typical hire shop gear.

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