Collections?

[MacWage]

My collection (in order of completion):

-Blackwatch "crap kilt" (no longer worn and NOT worthy to be spelled the same as the military unit)

Finished or in process (made by me)
-Black Watch (worthy of correct spelling) 5 yard knife
-"Jedi" tartan box
-Green Stewart (almost finished since last summer) box, cheap fabric
-Caledonia, F&K 13 oz box
-Carolina, Lochcarron 16 oz box
-X Marks, F&K 14 oz box
-MacNeil, Lochcarron 16 oz box (in process)

Fabric on hand, not yet started:
-Wallace, Lochcarron 14 oz Box
-USA Bicentennial, Lochcarron 16 oz box
-Caledonia, F&K 13 oz box

Fabric on order:
-X Marks, 16 oz box

OTHER (& non-worsted wool) kilt material on hand:
-Wallace wool
-Warrior PV
-Gordon PV
-Gray/Orange plaid wool
-Black Watch (other half of initial hand-made kilt)

Fabric on hand, Maybe used for kilt:
-Dress Gordon (light weight)
-Black Watch (Light weight)

On Wish List (heaviest weight can get):
-Wison, ancient
-Clergy (Lochcarron dark 16 oz)
-Culloden (MacBubba)
-MacLeod of Lewis/Loud MacLeod
-Gordon, modern
-Gunn, modern
-Isle of Skye
-MX-5 Owners Club (might have to be a custom)
-Douglas, modern (as a mark to the Cameronians/Covenanters)

Custom:
-Erskine College (Erskine done in garnet and yellow)
-Wages (custom family run by me and some cousins)

On tartans and "entitlement"/"openess" on wearing them:
ALL of the above have a SPECIFIC reason for me to wear them. There are SO many tartans I like that I have ties to, that there is not much reason for me to get ones I don't.

I think of tartans like "team colors" (as I've said before). Each one has its own meaning and associations. To wear it is to associate yourself with what it means. I like the Leatherneck tartan, but as I have no good ties or "reasons" to wear it, I do not out of respect for the USMC and the Marines themselves.
I will NEVER wear a New York Mets or LA Dodgers stuff, because I am a Braves fan and they are the ARCH-ENEMY (one past and one present). In fact, the ONLY New York sports team I will ANYTHING bearing mainly their logo is: New York Knights (from the movie, "The Natural").
Some tartans I would NOT wear either out of respect for what they mean and others BECAUSE of their association.
Other tartans I LIKE/LOVE and want because of their beauty and am glad to have a real, or at the least a reasonable, connection.
Some have a VERY MEANINGFUL symbology to me and I am fortunate that they are also some of the "best looking" tartans of all (Wallace, MacNeil, Carolina, Caledonia) and one that is one of the uglier tartans, but want because of the connection (Wilson).

[Mr. MacDougall]

-"Jedi" tartan box

Okay, I'll bite... Jedi tartan?

[MacWage]

Okay, I'll bite... Jedi tartan?

From the Greenville (SC) Games, 06 (I'm on the far left)

It's basically a Black Watch in brown (in place of blue), olive (green), and navy (black). I started calling it that as a joke (a friend said it looks like a kilt a Jedi would wear) and it stuck.

[Panache]

furrycelt,

You wrote:

... it is ugly... my first thought upon seeing Wilson Tartan with my own eyes: Eeewww Wweee, that is ugly...blech.

HEY THERE! I have a good friend who is a Wilson! A good friend who imports Scottish scarves, hats, and ties and he knows his tartans! A friend who knows what the Wilson tartan looks like! And...well...I... can't repeat what he says about it because it's a family forum, and needless to say he doesn't wear it...

oh well. at least it isn't Dress McLeod.

HEY THERE! I'm currently jonesing for my USA Mcleod of Lewis kilt!



Cheers

Jamie

[MacWage]

furrycelt,

You wrote:



HEY THERE! I have a good friend who is a Wilson! A good friend who imports Scottish scarves, hats, and ties and he knows his tartans! A friend who knows what the Wilson tartan looks like! And...well...I... can't repeat what he says about it because it's a family forum, and needless to say he doesn't wear it...




HEY THERE! I'm currently jonesing for my USA Mcleod of Lewis kilt!



Cheers

Jamie

I actually am one of the nutty people who want BOTH!!!!
Wilson, for my maternal line (also my mother's maiden name, my middle name, and my son's name)
Loud MacLeod, for my wife's family, her grandmother was a Lewis.

Honestly, I'm not sure WHY Wilson is almost universal thought ugly, but all I figure is the sheer mass of tiny striping (which convolutes the colors to be rather odd):

Lochcarron Shots:

Somehow, it seems to be less than the sum of its parts

[Panache]

...Loud MacLeod, for my wife's family, her grandmother was a Lewis.

Like you, my desire to wear the "Loud Mcleod" comes through my wife. The incomparable Flame-Haired Celtic Amazon Goddess is a Nicol, which is a sept of clan Mcleod of Lewis. At first I hated the tartan, but after awhile I had to be impressed that so many people recognized it. Honestly, the most most easily identified tartans are Black Watch, Royal Steward, and...Loud Mcleod!
Eventually I changed my mind about the tartan and when Rocky offered it in PV, well I just had to have it. I have ordered both red Lewis hose from the Matt Newsome at the Scottish Tartans Museum , black hose from Seamus at SportKilt, and bought two black shirts (one long sleeved and one short sleeved) in preparation for this kilt.

I'm jonesing!

Cheers

Jamie

[flairball]

Mr MacDougall,

To clarify a point; consensus or not, the fact remains, though it will be debated here time and again, that in the USA anyone may in fact wear what ever tartan they please. Though many prefer to have a connection or knowledge of their chosen tartan if isn't a requirement. As of yet all bills proposed to start funding a tartan police, and an agency to approve and administer tartan licenses have failed. Anyone you may encounter who questions your "right" to wear a tartan isn't only ignorant, but a bully too, and you, by virtue of your own kilt wearing, have the "right" to deal with them as you see fit.

The rules are simple. Wear what you like, and should you find yourself in envy of another mans tartan, then buy one.

[Mr. MacDougall]

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who thinks the family tartan is hidjus. The MacDougall tartan has long made me wonder if the ancestors were colour-blind as well as beligerant. Orange and violet? Together? C'mon!

[furrycelt]

... and one that is one of the uglier tartans, but want because of the connection (Wilson).

ok, as a Wilson, i must step up and voice my opinion about this statement. are you actually saying that the Wilson tartan is ugly? it only has four colors: red, blue, green, white. those are fine. the sett isn't all that complex. ugly eh?

well...

you are right. it is ugly; fugly even. and i can't figure out why either. i have a scarf and a tie that are of the Wilson tartan. got them for Christmas one year. my first thought upon seeing Wilson Tartan with my own eyes: Eeewww Wweee, that is ugly. but i don't know why! i did some research. the official colors of the sett are red, blue, green, and white. but the blue comes out purple, and the red comes out orange. and the green comes out weak. ...blech.

oh well. at least it isn't Dress McLeod.