James,

You seem to think that you and I disagree on tartan philosophy, but when you get down to the heart of the matter, I don't think we are that far apart. Just like you said, people need to use common sense.

When I tell people they can wear any tartan they choose, I'm not instructing them to pick a tartan, willy-nilly, with no thought as to the history behind it.

I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the United States, I encounter people all the time who want me to help them determine what tartan they "have a right to," or what tartan they "are entitled to." People have some very erroneous ideas about tartan. Here are a few examples:

-The young man I mentioned in the other thread who was told in very strict terms by another kilt shop owner that he was not allowed to wear his mother's tartan.
-People who come in with an air of aristocracy who brag loudly that they are "entitled" to wear the Royal Stewart tartan (and act as if everyone else should be in awe over this fact).
-People who seem to think that there is "one true tartan" that is "theirs" and are so confused because they don't know if "their" tartan is the ancient MacDonald or the modern MacDonald or the Dress MacDonald, so they don't wear any of them for fear of offending someone.
-People who have been working for years to trace their geneaology back far enough in Scotland that they could "prove" clan membership so they can finally buy their kilt (a goal still years in the future, and they may never be able to do it!)

I could go on. But it is to people like this that I say, "use common sense! Yes, you can wear whatever tartan you choose to wear!"

But the tartans that they choose to wear are going to be those to which they feel some connection. It is going to be a clan tartan to represent their heritage. Or a district tartan to represent where they are from, or where their anscestors were from. Because they understand that the tartan means something.

Saying there is no such thing as a right or entitlement to a tartan means that you don't have to get licensed from some governing board for permission to wear a tartan. Some people get so uptight about wearing the "wrong" tartan and getting raked over the coals for it. So they never wear one at all.

But that's not how it is. You pick the tartan, and wear it as you like. And 99% of the time people will pick one that has a meaning for them. And I think this is all you are asking, right?

Aye,
Matt