The History of Tartan and Why Everyone is Wearing this Scarf

 

 Angie Garcia Photography

Louis Vuitton Purse // Sweater // Scarf (here or here) // Earrings // Sunglasses // Jeans (here or here) // Belt // Shoes (on sale!) // Watch // Gold Link Bracelet // Vintage Turquoise Ring (similar here or here) // Vintage Turquoise Bracelet (very similar) // Beaded Bracelets

So unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 12 months, I'm sure you've seen a handful of people rocking the scarf I'm wearing above. You can call it plaid all you want, but it's official name is tartan.

What is tartan exactly?

Being the closet nerd that I am, I did a little digging and found quite the history lesson behind this popular scarf.

*This is where if you're interested, you keep reading and if not, you scroll to the bottom*

The word "tartan" actually used to mean a type of cloth instead of just the pattern. Thousands of years ago in Europe, the Celts would weave wool in different stripes and breadths that would result in a varying checkered pattern. The different colors were specific to each region as the dye was made from local sources in the area.

In the 1500s, the first recorded mention of tartan was found when King James V purchased "three eells of Heland Tartans" for his wife to wear. In 1689 during the Battle of Killecrankie, an eyewitness described "McDonells men in their triple stripe".

This is probably the most significant reference to what the tartan has meant for so many throughout Scottish and European history.

For many, this tartan wasn't just a pretty pattern, but a way to identify a family, clan or group.

Basically there was a guy in town who's job was to weave clothing for the entire village. The weaver would use different sources of natural dye from his surrounding area to color his cloth and make his garments. Inevitably, most of his clothing would come out looking to same because well, he had pretty limited materials and dyes to work with.

The end result? Everyone in the surrounding village wore generally the same outfit so this tartan became more of an identifier for the village or "clan" than it was a fashion item.

It was only until we yuppies picked it up and decided to Instagram it and make it our own that all that went down. I'm just kidding. But anyway, there you go. Your mini history lesson of the day.

So now you can wear your tartan with pride. And Instagram and Pinterest it to shame. But please, don't call it just another plaid.

*Shoutout to my college History of Fashion professor & Scotland History Online for helping educate me on the subject