What tartan to wear

**Paul Henry** · 15th April 11, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Chirs

:
.....snip......
So long as you have an answer better than "'cause I like the colours" when people ask why you're wearing it, you'll be fine. Don't worry.

Actually many of us who have lots of kilts often go through fabric sample books and countless online references to find a tartan that we like, and often it will be the colours that attract us, so perahps it's not that unusual to choose the colours that you like!
Of course it's a great idea to find out a bit about the tartan, the history and design of it and if it is connected to a clan or district.

One other thing to remember that the Irish tartans are very recent (within the last 50 years) as historic Irish tartans are unknown. Nothing wrong with any of those ones, but just to be aware that they are modern

**Chirs** · 15th April 11, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by paulhenry

Actually many of us who have lots of kilts often go through fabric sample books and countless online references to find a tartan that we like, and often it will be the colours that attract us, so perahps it's not that unusual to choose the colours that you like!
Of course it's a great idea to find out a bit about the tartan, the history and design of it and if it is connected to a clan or district.

I'm sorry, I seem to have misrepresented my thought. Absolutely, buy the colours you like! Even if you're sticking with a specific clan, get the modern, ancient, or hunter according to the colours you like. But...when someone says "Why that tartan?" I have found that some knowledge helps, that "It's pretty" tends to come up short.

Let's face it, if we were going to avoid choosing by colour, we'd have to stop at 3!

I definitely advocate for getting what appeals, but I also advocate for being able to say something meaningful about it.

**theborderer** · 15th April 11, 12:03 PM

Hello and Welcome from Berlin, Germany

**McElmurry** · 15th April 11, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by captainron

Any help would be great. I am open to ideas.

Most weavers will send you swatches free of charge. Some weavers charge a small fee. You can also order swatches from a central source if you prefer such as

http://giftshop.scottishtartans.org/material.html

or Scotweb. I have found the weavers themselves to be very fast in sending out swatches.

Look at the swatches in various lights and compare them to your wardrobe. They don’t have to match color for color but I wouldn’t choose a tartan that clashed with everything I own.

The computer rendition can be very misleading, swatches are the only way to go.

**tpa** · 15th April 11, 02:45 PM

A warm Scottish welcome from middle England.
Wear whichever you prefer or have one of each. Personally I would recommend starting with a casual kilt rather than a full dress kilt because you will get more wear out of it if you wear it as often as you can and for that choose the one which is least likely to need frequent cleaning!

**KiltedDixon** · 15th April 11, 03:36 PM

Welcome from windy North Texas!

**McFarkus** · 15th April 11, 08:31 PM

from Chicago. Why not get one of each?

**3fingerslinger** · 15th April 11, 09:34 PM

Either one is appropriate, I'm also 1/2 Scot and 1/2 irish.......I wear the Dunbar tartan (fathers side, Scottish and it's my last name, I also picked up an Irish national tartan to honor my mothers side.......I relate better to the Scottish side of my family and since I carry the Dunbar name i knew that that was the tartan I would wear most, so I spent a good sum of money on a 16oz. Lochcarron kilt in the dunbar modern tartan (knowing it will be worn frequently....the Irish national heavyweight I bought from Stillwater kilts for considerably less......a nice quality kilt as well but not expensive......to recap, spend on what will get the most use and spend less on what gets occasional use....just my opinion.....