FAN OF TARTAN
Tyson Beckett outlines why the age old tartan pattern has enduring appeal for everyone from the buttoned up to the bohemian.
Worn in Scotland since at least the third century A.D. and traditionally made from strong and hard-wearing wool, in modern times the appeal of tartan extends far further than the land of the brave.
Across the globe, it can now be found adorning scarves, handbags, keyrings and ties of all materials. The enormous popularity of the print means it sometimes seems fruitless trying to pinpoint the exact provenance: Is a check-patterned umbrella bought at a souvenir shop a tartan? Does a plaid covered dog bed count as one? Let’s consult the official classifications. The Scottish Register of Tartans Act defines the pattern as “a design which is capable of being woven consisting of two or more alternating coloured stripes which combine vertically and horizontally to form a repeated chequered pattern”. The solid-coloured stripes that build the pattern (also referred to as a sett) can be of similar proportions, but most commonly they differ and repeat in size and colour sequence across vertical (warp) and horizontal (weft) threads.
They may not fit squarely within the outlines of the register, but the checked cloth has style siblings found across a wide range of fashions. Its influence can be found in everything from the erudite tweeds of academia and brasher preppy madras checks to modish ginghams, herringbones and even dandy houndstooths.
No style of dress exists in a vacuum, so tartan’s stripes extend far further than the staple of heritage cloth. The warp is paralleled in the lattice of western shirts and is visually reminiscent of the grungy plaid of lumberjack shirts, another hardworking hero.
While valued to some because it’s steeped in tradition, tartan is useful too in the realm of subversion. In her very handy fashion reference guide, The Style Thesaurus, style journalist and lecturer Hannah Kane points to the way the punk movement “takes traditionally conservative heritage fabrics such as tartan, and imbues them with anti-authoritarian meaning, juxtaposing them with slick leather and PVC”.
It should be no surprise then that it has woven into the signature style of Dunedin, the southern city with its feisty independent spirit and strong ties to Scotland. The pattern is a perennial favourite of southern brand Nom*D, this season appearing in tones both bold and moody on everything from socks to jackets and kiltlike pinafores.
Our own fair isles even have their own tartan. Designed by bespoke tailor Ivan Coward with help from John Clark of
Alliance Textiles, the refined Pride of New Zealand brings together black to represent our national sporting endeavours, grey “for the multi cultural makeup of the population” while white symbolises the snow capped mountains of our own local
highlands.