Tartan alternatives?

[Damion]

I am looking at doing some period highland attire and was wanting to know if there are alternatives to the expensive tartans produced mostly/only? by Scottish mills.
Where do upholstery and curtain fabrics fit in or the stuff some girl's uniforms are made of?
I find the the technical side of tartans confusing so I'm not sure what fabric is period or terms like worsted. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, does anyone do diced tartan as in the red and white checks because it only seems to come in knitted form?

[Tarheel]

The questions that arise for me are;
What venue are you considering - Ren faire, stage show, museum attendance, etc?
How much and what type of interaction will you encounter - learned peers, curious and uninformed public, random pedestrians, etc?

Cost will become a factor in that, you can choose to recreate a passible item or duplicate an exact outfit. You can explain your decision to your audience after you have narrowed your environment of exposure.

My opinion, if I were in your situation.

[Dughlas mor]

Have a look at the Homespun Tartan offered by The Celtic Croft, on the right side of this page.

[Damion]

The questions that arise for me are;
What venue are you considering - Ren faire, stage show, museum attendance, etc?

The aim is to appear as a group at Highland games and the like to give a display of pre-proscription Highland attire and combat. It's just an idea at this point. "Re-enactors" in NZ tend to do either WWII or mediaeval impressions. One group does the 65th Rgt foot which served here during the Maori Wars in the mid 19th century.
We don't have a tradition of kilted soldiers here. Oddly enough we had the Armed Constabulary who were settlers who acted as both police and militia who were originally used to hunt down maori rebels. In the hot humid bush (forest) they preferred not to wear trousers and instead wore tartan blankets around their waists.
I guess there weren't any kilt makers handy!
There were some Highland militias formed during the 19th century heyday of militias (classic kilted highlanders with huge feather bonnets)but they were short lived as the government felt there were too many men in arms and so vetoed them, folding some of the units into the army as reserves.

How much and what type of interaction will you encounter - learned peers, curious and uninformed public, random pedestrians, etc?

Pretty much gawpers and the great unwashed.

Cost will become a factor in that, you can choose to recreate a passible item or duplicate an exact outfit. You can explain your decision to your audience after you have narrowed your environment of exposure.

Pretty much, I don't want to invest too much at this stage on something which could end up becoming a pretty talking piece at home, I've done the living history avenue with medieval groups, this is more for fun and promoting Highland culture.

[Damion]

Have a look at the Homespun Tartan offered by The Celtic Croft, on the right side of this page.

That looks promising, if postage isn't too much I'll give them a try.

hmmm, looks like I'll have to type slower here, 2 mins in between posts. tick toc tick toc tick toc...

[Tarheel]

Thanks for the details Damion. Look for fabrics that will be durable for "action if in combat demos" and close enough to era colors and patterns. The rest seems to be presentation by conversation.

[Guy III]

Damion- I do historical portrayal through the Clann of the Wolf. (Google our website.) While I admit many members do wear kilts and vests/coats from tartans that catch their eye, the correct answer is that no clan tartans existed in the 1700s (Black Watch military was the first and really only tartan at the time) and Highlanders wore whatever plaids they had woven locally. Browns, grays and "dim" colors (think a darker, faded madder red or a grayish blue) are more correct dye colors based on my research. I search for plaid wool that meets this description. Philabeg kilts are easy to make if you can get about 4-5 yards of 30" wool plaid. You can cut a 60" x 2+yard remnant in half and sew the ends together- hiding the seam in a pleat. (Great kilts were 9 yds. x 30" cut in half to make 60" x 4.5 yds. and sewed together- 30" being the max loom width of the era- so seams are OK historically.) "Diced" plaid is OK for an era kilt. True historic MacGregor red and black is an example. Red and white diced fabric was only used for military enlisted hose. (Officers wore red and black.) I would stay away from any white in an era kilt. Hope this helps!