Tartan is the new black (again): Expert On why Scotland inspires so many taste-makers
From the effortlessly-stylish Parisienne in her bouclé coat clutching a skinny cigarette to Cher and Dionne tartantwinning in Clueless, the threads of fashion spool back to Scotland.
Now, I can’t reveal the mysteries of tomorrow, but, like Stevie Wonder said, I know that the rosebuds will bloom in early May. This triggers a floral explosion from runway to high street each season that sees us all wearing florals in some capacity come spring.
You may think that makes me a fashion clairvoyant, however my knowledge comes from something a little more strategic and a lot less psychic. It’s all about trends. You’ve heard of them, probably bought into some and have certainly scoffed at several; but, often, there is a Caledonian connection and our country’s influence on global fashion trends will be felt season after season and here’s why.
From punk to preppy, romance to royalty, gothic to grunge, these are trends I continually saw getting regurgitated each season across the land. And it was here that I began spotting the pattern leading back to Scotland. But let me break down two of my favourites; romance and gothic.
Our biggest stronghold has to be over romance. Nothing show us this clearer than Outlander. What’s more romantic than castles, kilts and luscious rolling scenery?
Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University studied the Outlander effect on 25 of the show’s locations across Scotland and saw a 45% rise in visitors to the sites over four years, which they say is “well in excess” of increases experienced at other Scottish attractions.
And what of the legions of fans who can’t get here? Well, they settle in to watch the show wrapped in wool blankets and cashmere socks, with a whisky cocktail in hand. When a new season streams, we see a surge in sales across America and Europe for such items. It’s not lost on me that the spike coincides with the buzz of a new season streaming online.
In my opinion, the biggest impact Scotland has had on romance as a trend sits inside the bridal market. Formal Highland wear has been used in wedding ceremonies for centuries. Often, people come to me asking which tartan their surname belongs to. The answer is never simple since there are many variations under any given name. Even more beautiful, there’s a tradition of creating brand new tartans when two families come together. That’s one of the reasons you find so many differing patterns sharing the same surname.
I may be showing my soppy side, but I think that’s ludicrously romantic. Through working with DC Dalgliesh, Scotland specialist artisans tartan mill, I have seen first-hand the enormous presence
Scotland has on the global wedding market. We have shipped wedding kilts to more than 120 countries around the globe and we are just one of several Scottish tartan mills, which blows my mind.
Then there’s the romantic trend which stole my heart, dubbed “the cashmere wedding”. Think rustic outdoor settings and blankets over chairs to keep guests warm. Butter-soft cashmere stoles over
silky bridesmaid dresses. Flowers
sprayed everywhere, colours popping with tartan. Special weave cashmere kilts teamed with chunky cable knits. It looks authentically homemade but oozes luxury with every tactile touch. What’s not to love? Incidentally, Grace Kelly was a colossal cashmere fan. More
than that, she was a loyal Pringle of Scotland customer too.
It’s the link between the New
Romantics of the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Romanticism movement between 1800 and 1850 that tickles me most. While Sir Walter Scott was aggressively wooing royalty and the Enlightenment swept the globe, parallels between people wanting intellectual escapism rapidly spilled into the physical.
With a wave of new art, music, inventions and literature, came the want to own a slice of it, as a reaction to the harshness of the Industrial Revolution, much like the New Romantic movement being born in the UK out of the decline in industry and unrest caused by strikes bringing the country to a standstill. The need for escapism exploded. Clothing and make-up became theatrical and bold in both eras. Tartan was back with a bang after being made illegal during the 1745 rebellion, with people wanting to weave difficult colourways to flaunt their wealth. Red was the shade du jour as it was the hardest colour to create and the most expensive dye to produce.
As I conjure thoughts of gigantic, ostentatious portraits of 200-year-old figures, my mind whips to a visual of David Bowie clad in tartan, suited with freshly-dyed ginger hair that looks like it’s fizzing. Images of him then are like a mash-up of iconic Scottish women: Mary, Queen of Scots, with a slice of Tilda Swinton and a serving of Annie Lennox sporting a citric acid pixie cut. Perfection.
But just like a wave, the movement that started out with pure romantic intentions came crashing down. The Victorians swept away the vulgar excesses of the generation before them, adopting a more prudent way of life. Similarly, The Smiths and Nirvana took a sledgehammer to the excesses of Boy George and Duran Duran, in their peacocking silk plaids. And although the movement was set adrift, tartan still wound up on the back of Kurt Cobain, ushering in the era of grunge and the joy of an oversized checked shirt, much like Queen Victoria claiming tartan as her own to create the Balmoral effect.