Quote Originally Posted by RockyR View Post
Let me throw a small, yet honest curve at you.

I am 99% positive the reason the US State tartans aren't more widely worn is b/c of PRICE (and some, aesthetics). I say this b/c I've seen it time after time after time in my shop. Someone comes in with a picture of the Pennsylvania State Tartan and asks for a kilt. I tell them the price of an 'standard' tartan kilt and what the Special Weave Pennsylvania State Tartan will cost and they choose the former.

There is only 1 mill, to the best of my knowledge, that produces ANY stock state tartans... and only California and Texas. The other 48 states (at least the ones that have tartans) get left out b/c of smaller population or whatever. That leaves the potential kilt wearer with 1 option... Special Weave which is about 20% or more ABOVE the higher priced kilts we offer.

Also, I've seen the collection of US State tartans on Matt's website. Some are very nice, others are just plain hideous (I wouldn't wear it even if it WAS my state tartan).

If the mills (or even 1 mill) would produce a range of US State Tartans (much like they did with the Irish County tartans), I'm sure that there would be LOADS of takers here in the states. Until that time, they will all be special weave and they will all take a back seat to 'lower priced' wool tartans like clans and many Universals.

I do like the idea... now we just have to get the mill(s) convinced that there's a MARKET for such tartans here in the US.
Spot on, Rocky. Look at the availability of some of the Canadian provincial and the Maple Leaf tartan -- they are popular and readily available. In fact, when I first read this thread, I thought of the Nova Scotia tartan, one of the first tartans designed outside of Scotland in the 1950s.

The Tartan was designed for an agricultural fair exhibit on weaving in NS, and the organisers didn't want to favour one clan tartan for another, so they came up with their own -- and it stuck.

Since then, the NS tartan has made its way across the pond -- it is worn by the Coldstream Pipe Band:

http://www.coldstreampipeband.co.uk/history.htm

Note that there really isn't a connection with the tartan for the band; they evidently just liked it.

T.