The History of Famous Cloth Patterns: Tartan

Portrait of a Jacobite Lady (18th century) by Alexander Cosmo (The sitter's tartan military-style riding jacket, white rose in her hand and rosebuds in her bonnet symbolize support for the Stuart cause & Highland dress)

There is no daubt that checks and tartans are also one of this season's fashion trends. From time to time chekered fabrics are back in vogue during autumn and winter as they fit into the season's landscape. 

They are related to the warmth and coziness...and yes, we see them also this year...

That's why I wanted to find out more about why during the earlier times tartans were so popular among travellers or those who were busy with daily routines...Why do they are so related to autumnal feelings or rebellious attitude?

So to say... the better, however, is to know what we are wearing today! 
But how it all started? 

What's in the name? 

​Tartan is a closely woven woolen cloth which originated in Scotland, where the different patterns are used to identify individual clans. The fabric is cross-banded with coloured stripes which create designs of various checked widths. 
In the 1840s Queen Victoria's frequent visits to her estate at Balmoral in Scotland stimulated a fashion for tartan garments (see pictures below). 
Tartan's history is closely linked to the history of a plaid and the kilt, and also, - it has deep roots in the history of Scotland. 

In early times the kilt was a long, toga-like garment, woven of vegetable-dyed yarns, which was gathered at the shoulders. It served as both clothing and a blanket. From the Middle Ages it was made from a plaid - a piece of fabric, usually 16 foot by 5 foot, which was wrapped around the lower torso to make a calf-length skirt, with the other end draped across the chest and over the shoulder. By the 17th century the kilt had become identified with Scotland. It consisted of a skirt of seven and a half yards of tartan cloth, most of which was pleated, except for the last half yard at each end which was left unpleated. The unpleated ends were crossed over each other in the front and held in place by buckles or a large pin. By this time the plaid was a separate piece, worn over the shoulder. 

Royal Tartans 
​

The Royal association with tartan really began with the 1822 visit of King George IV to Scotland - the first visit of a reigning monarch to Scotland in nearly two centuries. The famous writer Sir Walter Scott organised the visit, and convinced the King to wear a tartan kilt, which had until recently been banned under the Dress Act of 1746 as a symbol of Scottish rebellion. [2.]
dcdalgliesh.co.uk/royal_family_tartans

Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, helped to design the Balmoral tartan, which is still regularly worn by the Royals to this day. By convention, no one outside the Royal Family (other than the Queen's personal piper) may wear the Balmoral tartan. So DC Dalgliesh is one of the few weavers ever to have produced the plaid. [2.]
​dcdalgliesh.co.uk/royal_family_tartans

​Evolution Of Scottish Tartan

Scottish Tartan
Image source:
 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02vkjpm

The evolution of traditional Scottish or Highland dress is quite obscure. Many historians agree that the popular image of the Highlander is largely a product of 19th-century romanticism. 

The skill of Celtic weavers was aknowledged even in Roman times, and visitors to the Highlands of Scotland in the early 18th century commented on the quality of the fabric that the inhabitants produced. Their woollen cloth had a distinctive checked pattern that, by the 17th century at least, was commonly referred to as tartan. Tartan patterns, or 'setts', are created by using two colours of thread, which results in three colour combinations. All patterns are structured as a series of stripes around a central 'pivot'stripe, which are then repeated as regular blocks of pattern. Typically, early tartans would have been relatively muted in colour and created from natural dyes, but a trend for more colourful patterns emerged as brighter dyes became available. 

From 1815 there was a move to register all tartans, and many patterns were created and linked with surnames for the first time. It is likely that what started as geographically based patterns, resulting from the local availability of dyes, - then became linked with clans in a particular area, and, in turn, with surnames alone. 

Tartan cloth has been a symbol of Scottish, or at least Highland, identity for many centuries. The 18th century was a tumultuous time in Scottish history and, acccordingly, the period witnessed the most significant attack on Highland dress, as well as the start of its greatest popularity. Support for the Jacobite campaign to restore a Stuart monarch grew in Scotland after the Union of Pariaments in 1707, which joined the kingdoms of Scotland and England. Tartan became the uniform of the Jacobite rebels. The Disclosing Act of 1746 banned the wearing of tartan, kilts and shoulder plaid, but tartan's rebellious associations made it popular among a wider audience. After the Disclosing Act, the wealthy in Scotland were more inclined to be depicted wearing tartan in their portraits. 
The second half of the 18th century witnessed a growing concern to protect and promote Scottish traditions and culture. In addition to the impact of the Disclothing Act, traditional Highland ways of life were being radically altered by land clearances and other modernizing influences. A literature was emerging that portrayed early Gaelic culture as virtuous and dignified, as exemplified by the collection of Ossian narrative verse published in 1760. 

The end of the 18th century came with revival, or reinvention, of traditional Scottish culture, and it was from this point that the fashion of tartan and Highland dress began to extend well beyond the borders of Scotland. 

Sir Alexander Macdonald (1744 - 1795), 9th Baronet of Sleat and 1st Baron Macdonald of Slate, attributed to Sir George Chalmers Image source: Wikimedia Commons - Google Art Project

​Male Scottish Clan Dress & The Shoulder Plaid 

​Eugène Devéria's painting epitomizes the romanticized view of the Highlander that had evolved by the 19th century. 
The chief of a Scottish Clan has drawn both his weapons associated with Scottish soldiers. The six-tasselled badger sporran was part of the officer uniform for the 93rd (Sutherland Higlanders) Regiment of Foot, and the choice of a red doublet and dicing on the cap is also evocative of Highland military uniform. The shoulder plaid harks back to the earlier Higland tradition of wearing a single, untailored piece of cloth or "big plaid". For Higland men, this could be used as a blanket at night and arranged into a costume resembling a kilt by day. The fabric was folded into pleats and fixed by a belt to form a skirt. Remaining material was used a s a cloak or hung over the shoulder. Practical attire for the harsh Highland conditions, the shoulder plaid aslo had aesthetic appeal. 

Chief of a Scottish Clan by Eugène Devéria (19th century).

Trivia of Male Scottish Clan Dress 

​Balmoral Bonnet - This style of bonnet was known as a Balmoral in the late 19th century, and had origins in Scotland from at least the 16th century. It is a soft woollen cap, with a large flat crown. It is typically worn tilted to the right, with two securing ribbons hanging from the back. The two eagle feathers, held in the clan crest badge on the bonnet, indicate a chieftain rather than a clan chief, who would wear three featers. 


Sporran - the sporran, like a medieval belt pouch, compensates for a lack of pockets in the kilt. The large hairy sporran was introduced by the military in the mid 18th century and has obvious connotations of male vigour. 


Tartan Pattern - Clans could have a dress tartan, which was often created by changing one of the background colours in their standart tartan to white. Hunting tartans were another variant, and they were designed with muted colours. From the mid 19th century, the availability of chemical dyes led to a distinction between modern clan tartans and more muted ancient setts. Earlier tartans could be vibrant, and Highlanders were noted for producing dyes from local vegetation.


Socks - the Argyle check hose would have been hand-knitted using the intarsia technique. Before the 19th century, hose would have been made from woven cloth, cut on the bias and swen so that the pattern wound around the leg. Important addition to hose is a single-bladed knife, a sgian dubh , would typically be tucked in the hose of the right leg, with only the hilt exposed to view. 

1815 - tartan patterns are registered and linked with clan names for the first time.

Tartan As A Fashion Statement

Preppy skirt Image source: Google search

As a fashion garments, kilts (usually the skirt without the plaid) have been popular since the 1940s. Modern versions usually are made from two yards of woolen fabric and do not conform to Scottish traditions. Fashion kilts were notably popular during the 1970s and formed part of Ivy League and Preppy dress for women.

19th century studio portrait of Queen Victoria wearing tartan skirt, ca. 1850's Image: Google Search results

Victorian Tartan Dress, 1857 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Image: Google Search results

Victorian Tartan Dress from Bustle era, ca. 1882. (medium: cotton; culture: French) Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Tartan Clan is something very significant. It usually comes to mind instantly if we are thinking of 20th-century tartan fabrics. It is associated with rebellion, the Punks and their queen - Vivienne Westwood.

Over the years tartan has become synonymous with the Vivienne Westwood name, conjuring up images of vibrant plaid suits, classic tartan accessories, and Vivienne’s very own clan; the McAndreas.

​Famed for her love of traditional British fabrics, Vivienne’s use of tartan in particular exploded onto the catwalk with the Autumn/Winter 1993/94 collection, Anglomania.
This iconic collection saw supermodels Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss hit the red-carpeted runway sporting one tartan creation after another. [4.] 

Image source: http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/blog/tartan-clan [4.]

Image source: http://www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/blog/tartan-clan [4.]

Further reading & references: 

1. Fashion - the whole story. (general editor: Marnie Fogg). - Thames & Hudson, 2013.
2. dcdalgliesh.co.uk/royal_family_tartans
3. www.scottishtartans.org/
4. www.viviennewestwood.com/en-gb/blog/tartan-clan
​5. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02vkjpm

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