So what gives anyway.... ?

[Blu (Ontario)]

Anyone that has spent some time browsing the Xmarks forums is probably aware of the mantra "know your tartan". Interestingly, I've worn a tartan tie for quite a few years and never had a single comment about it. My wife has worn tartan skirts for many years and never had a single question about what tartans they were.

What this seems to boil down to is... "know your tartan if its a kilt and if your a man wearing it."

I couple of years ago, I came across a salesman in a store wearing a tartan waist coat... not because it was a family tartan but because he liked the colors. He admitted that I was the first to ever ask him about it and he'd never really given the matter much thought.

So what gives anyway?? Does "know your tartan" only matter when it's sewn into kilt and worn by a man?? Is the kilt such a strong statement that only then does the tartan take on some significance??? Perhaps it's the kilt that triggers some psychological switches about these matters that are normally in the off position. ??:

That's my personal observation anyway. Perhaps your experience differs from mine.

blu

[GMan]

No Blu, that pretty well sums up my experience. People do seem to wear what colors they like, without giving it much thought. But something about having a kilt on seems to put things in a different perspective.

[Alan H]

Yeah, nobody looks twice at a vest. It's the KILT that gets the questions...

not the tartan, not the skirt...the KILT.

Is that a bad thing or a good thing? Dunno, but it does seem to be the truth of it.

[Riverkilt]

Well dang,

I sure hope folks look at the X Marks tartan vest I'm having sewn up!!

Hoping it goes well with my solid color kilts.

Ron

[Freelander Sporrano]

I think that the non-kilted part of society are so used to seeing Fanasy tartans in clothing and everything from packaging to Biscuit tins that no one ask's . That is until a man puts on a tartan kilt. People in general know that it has some connection with maybe your family or clan or some tangable connection so they ask (Sometimes anyway) other than that is just fancy packaging on biscuits

[yoippari]

I think it is the difference between a plaid shirt (or vest, or packaging), with plaid being the common term for tartans, vs. [sarcasm]an ancient garment worn by celtic warriors who covered themselves in woad and formed clans identified by the pattern of their kilts. [/sarcasm]

I think that with a kilt a tartan seems to have a meaning, it is associated with something, apart from a kilt it is just a pretty pattern (to the layman).