Quote Originally Posted by gilmore View Post
If your wife is an American whose family has roots in Virginia, it might be more historically accurate to dress her as a native American of the Powhatan tribe, since many Bowlings are descended from them through Pocahantas (as am I.) Of course, the neighbors are likely to gossip about exposed tattooed bosoms, but that's a small price to pay for historical accuracy.
Wow. I went to some school with some bowlings from williamsburg. I had no idea!

As for the Irish tartans, you can find official family ones. Have you tried looking for a family association? Perhaps they can sort it out the official one, it that's what maters to you. I've got Doyle blood and there's a Clan Doyle organization that created an official tartan you can only get from them (too bad they seem to have stopped functioning about 6 years ago), but I've seen weaver's selling a blue Doyle tartan. One is official and unobtainable, the other is unofficial but for sale. Which is better?
Each mill weaves its own county tartan, so shop for the one that looks best to you! And if any one says that your tartan is relatively recent, point out that many of the Scottish Family tartans are fairly recent as well. In the future, Irish tartans may well be accepted as widely as the Scottish ones. Only time will tell...