What I can and can't wear?

[GlassMan]

There are a lot of really nice "fashion" tartans available with no real ties to clans or districts. These are tartans designed by manufacturers for their looks. A personal favorite of mine is the Prince of Wales tartan. I think it looks very sharp.

[MacSimoin]

Heath,

Have a look at MATTHEW NEWSOME'S PATENTED ADVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME KILT WEARER. I think he does a great job of explaining the ins and outs of kilt wearing in this article and as an answer to your concerns Matt states:

Most people choose to wear a tartan that has some connection with their heritage. But the choice of which tartan to wear is entirely personal. There are no "requirements" to wear a tartan, no "authorizations" needed. You simply pick the tartan you want to wear, whatever your reason.

I agree.

[Kilted KT]

Can we get a sticky on that last post? All too importan info for the newly kilted...

[Monkey@Arms]

Can we get a sticky on that last post? All too important info for the newly kilted...

I second the motion, that or put a link to it in the article section. If I had read this first it would have radically shortened my learning curve. An excellent resource (as is just about everything that Mathew writes.) For those who haven't found it yet, I also recommend the archive of Mathew's columns.

Best regards,

Jake

[Andrew Green]

You can indeed wear anything you like. I'm still adjusting to this idea (I bought my first non-clan affiliated, and non-neutral tartan kilt earlier this week)... as I have always tried to stick to something I am affiliated with, in one fashion or another, just out of respect. But...that changed when looking at the SWK heavyweights... as I really liked the weathered Lamont tartan... but have NO connections whatsoever as far as I know to clan Lamont. So, to restate what's been said, wear what you like, with pride, and respect. Tartans were originally the product of a local weaver, and have only been "standardized" with the advent of industrialization...which leads perhaps to the idea of something close to a district tartan, but definitely not necessarily something that would have been clan affiliated way back when. This is from various sources, but likely the most knowledgable being Matt Newsome. If you ever have a question about a tartan, he'd probably be the best to ask.