Picking a Tartan

[lukeyrobertson]

Here's what I did. I went to the websites of major mills like Lochcarron, House of Edgar, DC Dalgliesh (new website). I looked at lots of different tartans from clan to district (in the end went with clan). I narrowed the sweep down to a few (realizing that some sites have computer-generated images and not photographs). Then I went to a couple of kilt shops and looked through their fabric swatches. In my case they had Lochcarron, HOE and some Dalgliesh. I felt the cloth for finish and weight. And then looked around for photos of kilts made from the selections of tartan that I had made. This forum is a great resource for that. I talked to my kiltmakers for their suggestions and asked tons of questions. For me it was a matter of the "hand" (a term I learned from Matt) of the cloth, its weight and colour palette. Then, I made my choice. I learned that muted and ancient tones tend to look a little "brighter" than one would imagine. But in the end friend, I'm pretty sure that you will be thrilled with the result. Tartan cloth--quality cloth--is truly beautiful.

[biblemonkey]

I had the same issue when trying to choose from among my clans tartan variations. I ordered swatches and kept them around the house for a while looking them over, asking other's opinions, etc. and when I felt comfortable I made a choice that best suited me and the reasons for buying it.

One peice of advise I was given was to make the decision and accept it. then you stop worrying about it. Don't order the kilt yet. Then look at the tartans again after a few weeks of not thinking about it and if you haven't felt that the desicion was wrong then go with the first choice. Once worry is removed things become clearer.

All the best,
Hugh

[OC Richard]

I ordered swatches and kept them around the house for a while looking them over, asking other's opinions, etc

That's funny, I did exactly the same thing. I just couldn't decide whether to go with Spirit of Scotland ancient, or modern.

I got two big swatches, ancient and modern, both heavyweight Lochcarron, both equally lovely!

I looked at them in various lighting conditions, asked various people's opinions, looked at photos of kilts made up in them, checked what they looked like with various jackets... and in the end I went with... Isle of Skye!

[Mac Ghille Sheathanaich]

If I am reading your "handle" correctly, then I would recommend the Galbraith tartan. Worn by the Families Galbraith, Russell and Mitchell.

Regards aye,

T.

[Newfoundlander]

That's funny, I did exactly the same thing. I just couldn't decide whether to go with Spirit of Scotland ancient, or modern.

I got two big swatches, ancient and modern, both heavyweight Lochcarron, both equally lovely!

I looked at them in various lighting conditions, asked various people's opinions, looked at photos of kilts made up in them, checked what they looked like with various jackets... and in the end I went with... Isle of Skye!

This is a very great ides indeed! If you haven't finalized your purchase, I'd certainly do that.

I'm sure everyone's process is different, but I can tell you how I arrived at my final decision:
I first narrowed my list of tartan's to the Clan Forrester tartan and the Newfoundland Provincial tartan. This made the selection of options much easier in the end. Luckily, my kiltmaker has swatches from many different tartans from a few different weavers, and in different weights and I could bring these home and keep them on the coffee table and give them a check over and see which one I favoured. The swatches were very important for my decision making. I also had Nfld. tartan cloth, but not in tartan weight wool. It's not a tartan that is in demand, so it's not weaved and kept in stock, which meant the weaver in Scotland would be doing a special weave of enough to make my 8-yard kilt. Thereby dramatically increasing the cost of the kilt, and the time to get it completed. Forrester is woven on a semi-regular basis and usually readily available. Were it not for keeping the tartan swatches I would have felt that I'd be deciding blind, and at the expense of a custom weave and a hand-made kilt you really want to make sure your sure. From there with tartan, and weight, and weaver in hand me and the kiltmaker went about getting the order and having everything made. 6 months later, along came my kilt and I've been in love with it ever since =)

That was my experience anyway. It was very pleasant, and I'm glad I chose the way I chose and didn't rush.

[ForresterModern]

This is a very great ides indeed! If you haven't finalized your purchase, I'd certainly do that.

I'm sure everyone's process is different, but I can tell you how I arrived at my final decision:
I first narrowed my list of tartan's to the Clan Forrester tartan and the Newfoundland Provincial tartan. This made the selection of options much easier in the end. Luckily, my kiltmaker has swatches from many different tartans from a few different weavers, and in different weights and I could bring these home and keep them on the coffee table and give them a check over and see which one I favoured. The swatches were very important for my decision making. I also had Nfld. tartan cloth, but not in tartan weight wool. It's not a tartan that is in demand, so it's not weaved and kept in stock, which meant the weaver in Scotland would be doing a special weave of enough to make my 8-yard kilt. Thereby dramatically increasing the cost of the kilt, and the time to get it completed. Forrester is woven on a semi-regular basis and usually readily available. Were it not for keeping the tartan swatches I would have felt that I'd be deciding blind, and at the expense of a custom weave and a hand-made kilt you really want to make sure your sure. From there with tartan, and weight, and weaver in hand me and the kiltmaker went about getting the order and having everything made. 6 months later, along came my kilt and I've been in love with it ever since =)

That was my experience anyway. It was very pleasant, and I'm glad I chose the way I chose and didn't rush.

John

Another option for your search for tartan is Fraser & Kirkbright, who weave all the Canadian Provincial tartans in merino wool, but usually in 10 or 12 oz weights instead of rarely woven heavyweight 16oz. Right now they have Newfoundland Provincial in 10 oz on their website:

http://wooltartan.com/tartans4.htm

but they change their stock fairly frequently so unless you are in a hurry for it just keep checking back. Their stock DW fabrics are typically only $45CDN per meter so reasonable by most standards, and a decent tartan fabric in the heavier weights, albeit not up to the standards of Lochcarron or even Marton Mills in most cases.

[Mike_Oettle]

John, you have made an excellent choice.
It is a pity that Newfoundland is not available in heavier material, especially since your province is exposed to the North Atlantic gales.
But you may find that a lightweight kilt will be handy in summer.
I have also gone the swatch route. I ordered samples of my clan tartan (all 16oz, since I want to get at least that sett in heavyweight material) from three different mills. I have not made a final selection, since other options may crop up by the time I am in a position to order, but I am very pleased with one of them.
Regards,
Mike

[Newfoundlander]

Hi there,

Thanks again for the info and the lead ForresterModern, your a veritable fountain of knowledge on where to track down these rare tartans! Thanks also to Mike here for the compliment =)

It is a pity that many weavers don't commonly weave the Newfoundland tartan in a 16oz kilt weight of material. It would be nice to see more Newfoundland kilts swinging about. I come from a part of my dear country that was heavily settled by both Scots and Irish, so there's a strong heritage to connect to.

Having the special weave done increases the cost pretty dramatically, however; the sense of pride and connection I feel to "where I belong to" when I wear my kilt is absolutely priceless. Some of my ancestors (the MacDonalds, the Grays, and later the Forresters) where among the first to settle North Central Newfoundland permanently, centuries ago. Whilst I'm proud of my Scottish and Irish roots, but I'm also firmly rooted in Newfoundland with a family heritage that stretches back to before America or Canada were barely colonies, let alone nations unto their own.

So what does that rant have to do with the issue in the thread at hand? It goes to part of my decision making process. It helped me narrow things to the Newfoundland and the Forrester tartans. In the end, I chose the Newfoundland for my kilt because it had a personal meaning. But that's just me, and no doubt others reasons will differ. If 1000 others chose the Newfoundland just because they like the sett and the nice deep green colour, than fantastic, the more the merrier!

Tha main piece of advise I'd like to weave into this thread is to think about what you want to wear, and why you want to wear it. I think that reason will be why you'll come back to wearing it again and again...

Thanks again lads for your help, comments, and compliments!

Note: the quote above "where you belong to" is a common Nfld. saying for "where I am from"

[OC Richard]

I went to that link and I saw the Newfoundland tartan. It's very nice, but the weight and sett size are not ideal for a man's kilt in my opinion.

Utterly offtopic, but here I am in the 1980s wearing Full Dress with a Canadian Provencial tartan, British Columbia. Our band is here in Southern California; we went with BC just because we liked the colours!

We had to have a bolt of kilt-weight BC tartan woven for us by Lochcarron.

I've not seen any other Canadian tartan done up for Full Dress with matching hose, pipe ribbons, etc.

[Newfoundlander]

Pretty sharp indeed!

I also had mine custom woven by Locharron in heavyweight, and the quality is exceptional. If I were to have another specially woven, I'd use them again for sure.

I'm interested to learn though, why do you think the sett size not ideal for a man's kilt?

Thanks!