Jonesing Practice

**McElmurry** · 13th March 11, 01:55 PM

I have taken one step toward a kilt by ordering several swatches. They are coming Royal Mail so I will also get some jonesing practice. I ordered several Morrison including red muted, and hunting modern, ancient and weathered. I also ordered Ulster weathered (the HOE dark version), Scottish Odyssey, and three of my wife’s favorites: MacRae hunting ancient, Gordon weathered, and MacDonald of Clanranald muted. Let the petit jonesing begin.

**McElmurry** · 26th March 11, 09:45 AM

I received two swatches from HOE. The red and brown in the Ulster weathered are nice but overall the contrast is very low. It is a “safe” fallback but the more I think about it the less I like it as a first kilt.

The colors in the McDonald of Clanranald muted are beautiful and the pattern is terrific, but I am becoming corrupted by the traditionalists and leaning away from another clan's tartan as a first kilt.

The McElmurry to Morrison connection seems quite sound and I am feeling more and more that I should follow that path.

A voice in my head keeps repeating,

“The kilt chooses the man, Mr. McElmurry. It’s not always clear why.”

**Cowher** · 27th March 11, 08:49 PM

Good for you doing your homework and getting a kilt that you will be head over heels for. Have fun!

**McElmurry** · 28th March 11, 05:59 AM

Originally Posted by Cowher

Good for you doing your homework and getting a kilt that you will be head over heels for. Have fun!

Thanks for the support. I figure I am only going to buy my first kilt once.

**Calico** · 28th March 11, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by McElmurry

I figure I am only going to buy my first kilt once.

Not me! I'm gonna buy my first tank kilt, then my first State of California kilt, then my first semi-trad kilt, then... I think you get the idea!

**McElmurry** · 12th April 11, 09:00 PM

After a month I now have 14 swatches. Lesson learned. It is much faster and more economical to request swatches directly from the mills. Second lesson learned is the colors of e-swatches depicted on web sites can be very misleading. One of my favorite tartans out of the 14 looked horrible on the computer.