Tartans not of your lineage

[Steve Ashton]

Remember that Tartan tells the world,

Who am I,
Where did I come from,
How did I get to where I am today.

Today there are about 12,000 listed Tartans. There are Tartans for everything and everyone.

A few are named for the Scottish Highland Clans. But far more are named for other things.
There are Tartans for the Scottish famlies, That vast majority of Scots who are not part of the Highland Clan system.
There are Tartans for areas and regions. Many countries other than Scotland have officially adopted Tartan.
States, cities have Tartans.
Companies have Tartans. The Safeway grocery chain, Harley Davidson, UPS all have Tartans.
Clubs, organizations, The Masons, The Ford Model T club.
Even Hello Kitty has a Tartan. (yes it looks like something exploded in a Pepto Bismol factory)

When you wear Tartan it tells the entire world - This is who I am - Today. All of those parts, all of the history, that are combined to make me.

When you think of Tartan like this - as something that does not have to be locked into dim history, it is no wonder that you can walk proud showing all the rest of the little bits and pieces.

Sandwiched alpabetically between the Isle of Skye Tartan and the Ithielian Heather Tartan are - The Italian Tartan, The Italian Amerian Tartan & The Italian National Tartan.

[macmanjim]

All the more reason to invest in one good tartan kilt. Different shirts, ties, and hose make the outfit look different each time and are much cheaper than kilts. Just take a gander at the 1 kilt, 10 looks thread and you can see how diverse a look you can get with just the one.

When I hit my target weight. I've been in the process of losing weight and I have a bit more to go. No use spending big bucks when I will only wear it 2-3 months at best.

[ctbuchanan]

I can not think of a single reason why you could not wear the Buchanan tartan to honor your wife's family heritage. I know many men who proudly wear their wife's family tartan.

Not to mention that the Buchanan tartans are irresistable

CTB

[macmanjim]

I can not think of a single reason why you could not wear the Buchanan tartan to honor your wife's family heritage. I know many men who proudly wear their wife's family tartan.

Not to mention that the Buchanan tartans are irresistable

CTB

It has to be the wildest tartan out there. The hunting version is subdued and there is a muted version. I like Anderson too, which is in my family and I like the Italian American one, but I can't find who makes kilts with it. Probably a special order. The other tartan I saw I fell in love with is MacBeth. That's real sharp. Gordon Dress is too.

[jumary]

In my case, I doubt that there is any Scottish lineage on my dad's side. Naples is a little off the path.

Naples Florida?

[macmanjim]

Naples Florida?

Nah, Vitulazio IT.

[SunriseEarth]

It has to be the wildest tartan out there. The hunting version is subdued and there is a muted version. I like Anderson too, which is in my family and [B}I like the Italian American one, but I can't find who makes kilts with it. Probably a special order.[/B] The other tartan I saw I fell in love with is MacBeth. That's real sharp. Gordon Dress is too.

I like that Italian American one, too. I might have to see about getting that when I decide to get myself a real tank.

[macmanjim]

I like that Italian American one, too. I might have to see about getting that when I decide to get myself a real tank.

Let me know who makes kilts with it.

[Terry Searl]

I am in full agreement of the words below and even though those words were written over a hundred years ago sometimes we need to be reminded of words of wisdom

The Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine wrote a delightful informative book in 1901 called The Kilt & How to Wear It.

“The man who wears the kilt… differentiates himself from the surrounding peoples.* The ease, grace, and elegance of his costume pleases and charms all unprejudiced beholders, whilst the individuality of the man, revealed in the various adjustments of his raiment, and in the buoyant freedom of his carriage, proclaim the man of action, the freeman, and the thinker.”

“The Highland dress is essentially a ‘free’ dress – that is to say, a man’s taste and circumstances must alone be permitted to decide when and where and how he should wear it… I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed.”* So yes, wear the kilt casually – and often! – but when you do, wear it in good taste.

[Dollander]

I like that Italian American one, too. I might have to see about getting that when I decide to get myself a real tank.

The Italian American tartan is exclusive to USA Kilts, and I don't see it listed anywhere on their site, so it was probably discontinued.

I too was thinking about making something Italian-oriented...not only out of a desire for kilts that represent all aspects of my ancestry (I am still considering the German Heritage tartan), but also because I know that, deep down, my mother laments both my fascination with my (paternal) Scottish heritage, and that I identify as merely an American of Italian descent rather than a full-blown Italian-American. While Clan Italia does sell fabric of the Italian National, it's not my first choice. The one I really like is Scozia, but Lochcarron doesn't seem to produce it anymore, and it's not really worth it to me to commission a custom weave from D.C. Dalgliesh. Oh, well.

As much as I now know that the idea of specific tartans for specific clans is a modern tradition, the concept is still burned into my brain. Plus, I know that others I encounter may be aware of it, so out of respect for that, I tend to stick to tartans that, in their eyes, I have a "right" to wear. I only have one tartan kilt that's not either universal/fashion or directly related to my background, and that's MacNaughton Muted in PV. Since I wear kilts exclusively (and PV exclusively in the summer), I wanted a variety of colors to wear...in this case, something red. All the PV tartans related to my ancestry (Murray of Atholl, Malcolm, and MacDonald) are predominantly blue and green, and the universal reds are too loud for my tastes. Still, I found myself having to "justify" my choice with the fact that the MacNaughtons were originally from the Pictish kingdom of Moireibh, which also happens to be the origin of my surname. It's not a concrete connection like, say, Murray and Sutherland (the progenitors of both clans were brothers), but it's something...