Northumberland Tartan

[seanachie]

There is another thread on here that I found and indicates the Northumberland Tartan Company is the only company producing the Northumberland Tartan. http://www.northumberlandtartan.co.u...ils.asp?id=113
Their kilts are a bit out of my budget at the moment so I thought of a waist coat. However, I believe I saw something about never mixing tartans. My question is would wearing this waist coat without a Northumberland tartan kilt require a solid color kilt or would this be a no go. I will soon have a black wool argyll jacket and the waist coat would work with that and I thought perhaps a black kilt until I can get a Northumberland tartan kilt.

Thanks for any perspectives

[Paul Henry]

The Northumberland Check is available from many places, it's a fairly universal tartan ,so no one can actually claim uniqueness about it.
shepherd check details


Other place do kilts in it for example Scotweb details

the idea of a waistcost in it and everything else in black sounds failry smart, perahps a little somber, but certainly worth a look

[svc40bt]

To answer your other question, that check should go with most tartans in modern or ancient colors. Maybe not weathered or other brown based tartans. A black or matching Argyle would be a natural too.

[davidlpope]

As Paul alluded to, the Northumberland Tartan, also referred to as the Shepherd Check, is a stock weave by Lochcarron:

http://www.lochcarron.com/tartanstrome/shepherd.html

Matt Newsome has a blog post about it here:

http://kiltmaker.blogspot.com/2006/0...nd-tartan.html

I'm not sure that it would look that great as a formal waistcoat, though. The sett is normally pretty small and I'm worried that it would clash with the tartan of the kilt. I've seen some non-matching waistcoats that look quite nice (Ian Sherwood, proprietor of Cuillin Craft pulls it off well), but I think it's more the exception than the rule.

My suggestion would be to "mock-up" the envisioned outfit using MS Paint or another graphics program. I usually do something similar when deciding on pleating for kilts, and it gives you an idea of whether the effect is pleasing or jarring.

Cordially,

David

[Mr. MacDougall]

I like the "black jacket, black kilt, Northumberland vest" idea. That sounds pretty sharp to me. Just make sure your jacket and kilt are a close match, as there are many shades of black!

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Just to reinforce everyone else's statement that the Northumberland tartan is available from any kiltmaker. You just have to ask for "Shepherd's check" as not everyone will know it as the Northumberland tartan. The cloth will be the same.

As it is essentially a small black and white check, I think a waistcoat (or waistcoat and jacket) in this material would go with just about anything. McMurdo has some photos of him in a Burns Check argyle jacket and waistcoat, which is essentially the Shepherd's check with a bit of brown and green added. Those photos might give you a good idea of what it looks like.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

FYI, I have a 4 yard, 30" wide length of this tartan in Harris Tweed. I'm selling it as a plaid on my specials page currently:
http://kilts.albanach.org/specials.html


However, if someone wanted a four yard kilt made from it, that could easily be done. This is also enough to have a nice kilt jacket made if anyone is interested in that.

[seanachie]

Thanks for all the info....either I misread the thread or read errant info regarding this tartans weavers. I very much appreciate being "straightened out on this".

As a side note, my first trip to Europe almost 30 years ago was on an Exchange program called Friendship Force (nothing to do with schools). I stayed with a family in Northumberland and we have become very close friends and I have spent a lot of time there. I have an affinity for this area and thought this would be a great kilt. As a bit of a history buff it is an old tartan as well.

I appreciate the camraderie and help here.
Joe

[OC Richard]

[MacLowlife]

I don't know if you have another kilt already or what limits you may have on tartan choices. You may prefer not to wear a clan tartan or only certain ones, or you may not want to wear a "ladies' tartan" as defined by some. But if I were in possession of any tartan kilt at all that included black or white or both, I would strongly consider wearing the shepherd's check with it. Mid 20th century ads for highland outfitters often show a similar black and white jacket paired with tartan kilts. I think wearing a solid kilt, while certainly acceptable, shows a lack of confidence in matching patterns. Dress MacPherson or Black Stewart would look great, as would something called BARBECUE PLAID, about which I suspect Matt Newsome has some ideas...

At fifteen feet, this pattern looks solid. Go ahead, wear it with another one.