Where Do Weathered Tartans Come From? 

I favour earthier colours in general. The weathered tartans look great.

Perhaps you can give a thought here. When I was 13 in 1966 in Scotland, my Dad, brother and I formed a wee Ceilidh band near Edinburgh. We wore shirt and trousers and a tartan tie. It was our Gow tartan, in modern tones - it was red, green and black. A year or so later, we got our first kilts, in modern Gow tartan, but this time was red, green and dark blue and in a good lighter weight wool. They were made by a tailor who used to work for Kinloch Anderson. I think he sourced the tartan material. Then in 1970 my Dad had made Gow kilts in a really good slightly heavier wool. The Gow tartan was red, green and this time black. The tone was ancient, the red being sort of orangey, a wee bit like a 57 varieties of cream of tomato soup (i think you get the brand !) and the green was also a paler but nice colour. The kilts were made thrpugh Highland House in the Lawnmarket. But recently looking at websites ranging from Lochcarron to you name it, Gow is shown as red, green, dark blue, whatever tone is used.Is it fashion, re-interpretation by tartan authority or makers' preference that has it going between dark blue and black ? I must admit, I much prefer red/green/black myself. Red/green/dark blue makes it look too much like Mackintosh.

Very good overview on the colour palette for tartans . Especially liked the last part and would love to see a tartan with the olive green in it .

Thanks guys!!!

From what I understand of pre-modern dyeing techniques, the first batch of threads would come out of the vat very bright, and then the second batch from the same vat would be more muted, and consequently cheaper. So I guess people might have had their tartan bright or muted depending on what they could afford. So I agree with you that bright doesn't mean modern, but the muted colours were also worn - by those less affluent.

What about Hunting tartans?

Very interesting video and thanks for the information. I always figured that the ancient and muted colors were just the thought process which was mentioned that "it's the old days so it should look old." Did not realize it was a modern take on the Tartan plaid. And to hear that bright coloring back in the older days was a sign of status was very interesting and again something I wouldn't of thought of but makes absolute sense.

I prefer the ancient weathered and muted kilt. I seem to also gravitate to the hunting weathered.

Kenny dalglish! What a legend although surprised to hear Americans talking about him! YNWA!

Erik looks like he's wearing an Imperial Tartan! As a SW nerd, that would be a great one to own!

In-Story Book 1 Outlander; Jamie Fraser just came home from France. So sometime he got a pair of French army boots. That's why he wears those boots instead of Scottish foot wear.

What tartans are y'all wearing in this video. I really like them. Especially the darker one.

Amongst my clothing that I wearin the winter I have a scarf that is in "ancient" and a flat cap in weathered mainly for contrast. These are worn with regular contempory clothes such as sweat tops, casual trousers or jeans and a gilet (with my regimental badge) or a heavier coat if the weather demands. As the cap is wool it is not suitable to wear as sun shade in the summer. In my Highland clothes I have a mix and match attitude with duplicated garments in modern and ancient but I prefer the ancient as I am now an old man.

I thought "ancient" tartans was an attempt to emulate the use of natural dyes over modern chemical dyes. Agree that colors weren't as drab as modern conjecture.

Yay buchanan! I will be getting either Buchanan hunting or weathered! However why are Buchanan and Macmillan soo bright!!!

Dont know if the mill part of the story is true but there was a cloth of the "ulster" tartan found in a bog and recognised as one of the oldest tartans to be found

I go with muted from HOE, or hunting ancient from lochcarron or HOE. Love strathmore, but they are never in stock.

J'ai pour ma part personnelle un des plus grand respect pour ce qui est des coutumes ancestrale

That's the name of the tartan in the backgroud (center)?

Has there ever been a Solid Black Wool Great Kilt, and is there a company that makes solid black.

Yay bannockburn 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

What is the fiddle music you guys use in the background on these videos?

I was just wondering how to get whisky stains and cigarette ashes out of the wool in a hurry. Just when you have been on a bender for a few days , but have to look half decent in a couple of hours.

OK, I have a pair of punk skinny pants in the same plaid as Rocky is wearing. What’s it called? Forgive the newbie LOL all I can recognize is Black Watch which I’ve loved since childhood.

Utilikilts are nice . Have 4 . Woodland camo Black Denim ( dark ) Khaki

I am from house Bruce. Which tartar can I wear being a girl and being a Bruce???

What tartan is that black/grey/red one that the guy on the right is wearing?

I'm vaguely connected with the Farquharsons, and massively prefer the Farquharson Ancient tartan to the standard one. Not really a fan of tartans that are mega in your face bright.

Don’t joke. I’ve seen a guy I know wearing cargo khakis with a jacket and tie. Blech.

Tartans fade, chain mail rusts when worn out doors for months or years.

"There was an old prophecy found in a bogThe country'd be ruled by an ass and a dog"

Where do Weathered tartans come from? ... the Western side of the Mountain.

When they didn't use the red fraser ancient tartan for the outlander wedding scene I was very sad. Get this Mackenzie weathered tartan bs out of here.