Tartan on this season’s catwalks
ONE of this season’s biggest trends is tartan or as the Americans call it plaid.
For those of you who study fashion as closely as I do you will remember our brief flirtation with tartan back in 2008 when House of Holland made us all fall in love with the Scottish national print and everyone went tartan mad.
I have always been fascinated by tartan ever since my childhood when my dad played in a pipe band and dressed in his kilt, shiny black Spatz shoes, bobble hat and sporran.
I thought it was incredibly strange that my father wore a skirt but it wasn’t until I learnt about Scottish history and the clans that I really understood and appreciated the beauty of tartan.
On a trip to Edinburgh when I was a child I remember going into a tartan shop and looking through the many different colours and styles of tartan and when I found my own family or clan colours I was even more intrigued.
Despite loving tartan it is a fabric I really wouldn’t wear a lot of and I do feel it is quite difficult to pull off especially when it comes to some of the more vibrant prints.
I also find tartan is quite age restrictive because it can very easily age a person however if you are afraid of the fabric aging you then go for a more demure colour rather than the brash red prints.
Unlike the last time the tartan trend came about I have decided to be a little more adventurous this time and have purchased a pair of tartan skinny jeans, which I just wasn’t confident enough to wear the last time around.
I don’t know what it is but this time around everyone seems to be a lot more confident with tartan and the designers have certainly had fun with it.
Tartan was seen everywhere from Stella McCartney, Moschino, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton and I particularly loved the fun filled Scottish vibe from Moschino.
Each designer had their own take on tartan and in the same way celebrities have been putting their own stamp on how to wear it.
For example Home Secretary Teresa May shocked fellow Conservatives by arriving at their recent party conference wearing a not so Conservative £1190 Vivienne Westwood Anglomania trouser suit.
On the opposite end of the scale former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan recently sported a tartan mini kilt with a biker jacket and ‘Ginge’ slogan t-shirt.
No matter what your style is you will always find a tartan to suit whether a low key autumnal shade or a vibrant red, purple or blue and it’s all about how you wear it so have fun with it.
