# How can I find what tartan I can wear? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954 "2024-08-20T17:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/21 "2024-08-21T01:24:30Z")
I think the MacLeod edges the Buchanan. Mind you, the MacLeod would be great for highway workers who want visibility. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/22 "2024-08-21T10:05:38Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > registered Jewish tartan OK, now that I know this exists… I must have it. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/23 "2024-08-21T10:33:51Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I think the MacLeod edges the Buchanan. > > Mind you, the MacLeod would be great for highway workers who want visibility. How _dare_ you. (It is bright, I’ll grant you.) ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/24 "2024-08-21T10:35:11Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > Really, in Scotland _no one cares_. Quoted for truth. If you can find an ancestral name and want to get a related tartan, more power to you. But just picking one that brings out your eyes is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/25 "2024-08-21T11:43:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@DocCathode](#): > > > > registered Jewish tartan > > OK, now that I know this exists… I must have it. If you have a _semikhah_, you could wear the [rabbinical tartan](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=10100). Otherwise, you can choose the [Jewish tartan](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=5637) or the [Jewish Community tartan](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=5970). There’s an interesting note at the link for the Jewish tartan: > Registration notes: A tartan, not only for the Jewish population in Scotland, but for Jews and non Jews anywhere in the world. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/26 "2024-08-21T12:31:02Z")
There’s the story of the fellow who goes into the tartan store, says to the clerk, “I’d like to buy a kilt in the tartan of my clan, but I don’t know what clan I’m from…” The clerk replies in a strong Scottish accent “Aye, then wha’s yer last name?” The customer replies “It’s Firestone.” The clerk, “Och. That’d be the clan MacIntyre.” Customer: “Really? How do you know?” The clerk replies, “Och, laddie. Firestone’s bin MacIntyres for years.” ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/27 "2024-08-21T13:00:13Z")
Thanks for the link. Maybe 30 years ago, for some reason, my family got me a book that was mostly about showing different tartan patterns and associating them with family names. (We are largely Scottish by ancestry.) Visiting Scotland in the mid 1990s, they did one better: At a tourist shop they were selling transparent key rings with actual tartan cloth samples in them, supposedly the correct one for your family name. I bought mine, which was mostly red with white and black stripes. In the center, over the cloth, is a badge with the family logo (a unicorn). Not sure if any of this is correct, but it is kind of cool and fun. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/28 "2024-08-21T14:05:40Z")
My late wife was Irish, and one time we went to a Scottish festival in Chicago and was talking with someone there about tartans. If I’m remembering correctly, we were told that her Irish ancestors did have a tartan related to one of the Scottish clans. We were also told that if she chose to wear the tartan, it meant that she was required to support the clan if it went to war. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/29 "2024-08-21T18:04:03Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > He thought about it for a moment, and said, “Buchanan?” Reminds me of Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/30 "2024-08-21T19:17:23Z")
Lucky for me I really like the tartan of my Scottish ancestors. I don’t see how I will ever have the need to wear a kilt but Pendleton had a dress shirt a few years ago with the pattern which I wear on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/31 "2024-08-23T06:26:41Z")
A kilt would be overdoing it in my family, but… I do have scarves in both the red and green versions, a tie in the more usual red, and (a piece of whimsy in the lockdown) a facemask in the red ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/32 "2024-08-23T06:53:15Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Here’s the register of tartans: > [The Scottish Register of Tartans](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index) > > Try their FAQ for how to find the right sort of tartan ( you don’t necessarily need to splash out on a kilt, you could get a scarf or a tie) [Like from Burberry](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=440) Or maybe go with the[personal tartan of professional wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper.](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=3540) [Or if you’re a fan of 3M products (makers of Scotch Tape).](https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=5751) That databases seems really thorough. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/33 "2024-08-23T07:09:39Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > A friend of mine is . . . extremely enthusiastic about his Scottish heritage. Ask him if his online handle is by any chance “@Northern_Piper”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/34 "2024-08-23T11:16:43Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > That databases seems really thorough It’s an official Scottish Government operation. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954/35 "2024-08-25T02:02:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > If nothing else, one could do like the original London Scottish Regiment and wear [Hodden,](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hodden) a plain gray fabric used by hunters. as any good german/scott might think now: _I wear my Hoden in my Hodden._ (Hoden = german for testicles) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-find-what-tartan-i-can-wear/1005954.md?page=1)