There are several notable things Scotland is known for, one of which being tartans, of course. But, there are also several renowned things about tartans. It is a type of pattern and fabric that has taken the world by storm since it went mainstream. Here are some facts about tartans that you might not have known:
Elvis has his own tartan – The King of Rock ‘n Roll has two tartans designed in his honour. He is said to have roots in a small village in Aberdeenshire called Lonmay. Mike King, a local designer, created the official Presley of Lonmay. There is also a print called Presley of Memphis designed by Brian Wilton. It is based on the colours of the United States flag and has a gold strip to represent Elvis’ Gold Discs. The tartan even has a thread count of 42 to signify his age when he died.
A piece of tartan was in space – An American astronaut of Scottish descent named Alan Bean took a piece of MacBean tartan to the moon with him. He brought it along on his Apollo 12 mission in 1969. There were rumours he left it up there, but he had brought it back with him back to Earth. Bean donated pieces of the tartan to Clan MacBean and the St. Bean Chapel in Perthshire.
Queen Victoria made tartan popular – While she is not exactly known as a trendsetter, Queen Victoria is said to have made tartan as popular as it is today. She wore it to the great Exhibition of 1851 and sales of the pattern skyrocketed. It became a popular uniform option for schools and has since been adopted in schools around the world.
Tartan is huge in Japan – The country is the largest importer of Harris Tweed, a pattern from the Outer Hebrides. Tartan is prevalent in Japanese runway fashion and streetwear. Designer Jun Takahashi had models strut down his runway in head to toe plaid. There are even several tartans made for the country’s most famous anime cat, Hello Kitty.
Plaid for the police – Black and white checkered uniforms and vehicles are used to identify police all over the world. The design is a tartan called Sillitoe Tartan named after Chief Constable Percy Sillitoe from Glasgow. The checkered pattern was first used by police in Scotland in 1932 and has since been embraced by police forces all over the world.
The most expensive tartan – Knitwear firm Holland & Sherry makes the priciest plaid. It is a pure Mongolian cashmere blend that costs about $850 CAD per square metre or $8,500 for a full kilt. Fortunately, most kilts and tartan cost far less than that.
It is not just for the Scottish – You do not have to be from a Scottish clan to wear a family tartan. The many patterns that exist did not even become associated with specific family names until the 19th century. Before that people simply picked colours they liked, as they can now.
If your wardrobe is in need of a bit of plaid or you want to add to your collection, visit Tartantown. We have a wide selection of patterns to choose from.
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