McGregor dress tartan

[SlackerDrummer]

Try this website: http://highxpress.tripod.com/tview2.html

I think the Dress MacGregor, however is a dancers' tartan, isn't it?

[Dixiecat]

Try this website: http://highxpress.tripod.com/tview2.html

I think the Dress MacGregor, however is a dancers' tartan, isn't it?

It's a dress tartan that can be used by dancers. It can also be used by anyone who is not a dancer.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

It's a dress tartan that can be used by dancers. It can also be used by anyone who is not a dancer.

While it is true, in general terms, that anyone who wishes may wear a dress tartan, it should be pointed out that in the case of the Dress MacGregor tartan, the clan chief has actually expressed a specific opinion.

To whit:

I have officially approved the MacGregor Green dance tartan which is called MacGregor Green for wear by dancers only. As I was formally asked if the tartan could be worn by some dancers who are of MacGregor blood, I was happy to agree given that their representatives had taken the trouble to ask me about it. However, the caveat is that it should only be worn by those who compete or have competed in highland games. It should not be worn by MacGregors at large. I regard it as a sort of badge of honour, knowing the stringent training and discipline that goes into these competitions.

(Note he calls this the "MacGregor Green" tartan rather than "Dress MacGregor." He typically eschews terms such as dress or hunting to refer to any MacGregor tartan.)

Now, the above quote may sound rather authoritarian, but remember it does come from the clan chief who was specifically asked his opinion on tartans for the MacGregor clan. He also says in the same statement:

People can obviously wear what they like within the bounds of good taste – the difficulty comes when they wear something which is not what it purports to be. The discussion is not helped by emotive phrases like ‘tartan police’ as if the chief goes around with sunglass clad outriders in boots ‘bagging’ anyone who is not wearing the right tartan. The kilt, tartan, and its accoutrements are peculiar to Scotland, people of Scottish descent, and those who wish to be affiliated to Scotland in some way. It should all be treated with a bit of respect as other nations do with their national forms of dress.

Quotes from the chief are taken from this web site, well worth reading if you are interested in MacGregor tartans.
http://www.clangregor.org/article-ourtartans2.html

[Dixiecat]

As you say, that's his personal opinion. He can't restrict the use and sale of the Dress MacGregor tartan even within his own clan. He obviously recognizes this too.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

As you say, that's his personal opinion. He can't restrict the use and sale of the Dress MacGregor tartan even within his own clan. He obviously recognizes this too.

Yes, it is his personal opinion, but I'll also expand on that by saying that it is the personal opinion of the chief of the Clan Gregor, and so carries a bit more weight than my opinion or yours in this particular matter. :-)

[Dixiecat]

Yes, it is his personal opinion, but I'll also expand on that by saying that it is the personal opinion of the chief of the Clan Gregor, and so carries a bit more weight than my opinion or yours in this particular matter. :-)

Not to me or to any dancer actually. He can't restrict the sale or use of the tartan. If you can't enforce something then it doesn't matter who he is. And, I would also venture to say that if one puts 'weight' into his opinion then one just becomes one of the kilt police. The very thing he doesn't want to anyone to become.

I just find it odd that he can 'officially' sanction a tartan that he had nothing to do with, although it is based on a clan tartan. The Dress MacGregor is not owned nor produced by the clan and wasn't designed by them either. There are no design nor production restrictions on it. Gah, thanks to him, I can see the kilt police showing up at competitions and giving dancers who don't compete at games a hard time for wearing the Dress MacGregor.