I, for one, would see dancer's tartans in a different (but related) category than typical dress tartans. Though many dancers wear standard dress tartans, most of the dance tartans so-called are not really clan tartans at all, but fancy variations on clan tartans. Because they have so much white in the design (typically) they are viewed in the same category as dress tartans by many, but I think dance tartans deserve their own category.

If you take a look through the dance tartans provided by mills such as Dalgleish, you'll see a lot of colors you don't ordinarily see in clan tartans. A lot of pastels, colors such as turquoise, pink, aquamarine, etc. And, with one exception that I know of (MacGregor) these dance tartans have no official standing with the clan whatsoever. They are simply fashion tartans, designed for dancing.

Actual dress tartans, on the other hand, are often recognized by the clan (either officially or simply by popular usage). And they tend to stay closer in color to the original clan tartan, though with the added white.

And I would say that the origin of these tartans is the eighteenth century women's arisaid fashion, in which most of the tartans were white or cream based. Because this was originally a ladies' fashion, many consider modern dress tartans to be primarily for women's wear. That's fine. However, there is no objective reason why a man should not choose to wear a tartan simply because there is a lot of white in it. So I say if you are a man and want to wear a white-based tartan, go for it.

In addition to the example of Prince Charles wearing the Dress Stewart, way back in the 1840s R. R. MacIan painted his portrait of the MacPherson wearing a feilidh-mor in the dress tartan for that clan.


Then (like everything else regarding tartan) there are exceptions to the rule; so-called "dress" tartans that have no white in them whatsoever, and are simply called "dress" by analogy because of their light or bright colors. The examples David gave of MacMillan and MacLeod, as well as Barclay are prime examples of this. One that no one has mentioned so far is the Dress Fraser, which is the exact same tartan as the standard red clan tartan. For some reason unknown (at least to me) this tartan has traditionally been referred to both as the "clan" tartan as well as the "dress" tartan, and either apellation is viewed as correct.