tartan history - revised
2 May 2005 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kangeikoNow, I know that McGonagall wears tartan in canon. This does not excuse flagrant tartan-abuse in fanfic. Go, stand in the corner.
Tartan is not, in fact, a venerated Scottish tradition. It's quite a recent English imposition (which leads me to think that McGonagall is either Muggle-born or at the very least has Muggle relatives not that many generations off) and, really, I'm not picturing her wearing tartan robes. If JK Rowling says otherwise, she's actually taking the piss from all non-Scots.
It's also bloody heavy. Andscratches itches.
So there.
ETA: 'tartan' was originally the name of the way the cloth was woven and had nothing to do with the pattern. It used to be blankets, rather than clothing, that was made of tartan cloth (although this was quite a few centuries back). Clan affiliations started cropping up via different colours because of regional differences in dye sourcing. It was only with Sir Walter bloody Scot and George IV's laws on what consitutes 'Highland dress' that tartan clan affiliations were standardised. Queen Victoria did her part too.
To wear 'tartan robes' would be akin to wearing great big woolen blanket all year long. It's heavy and uncomfortable. The cloth itself might have been of the right weight for Highland winters, perhaps, but it wouldn't have bene used in anything as close-fitting as robes that are, after all, measured and made for people. I'm taking the idea of robes from an adaptation of kimonos, that are all essentially the same shape and are made from a bolt of cloth, but vary between people when properly fitted. Kimono cloth - be it silk or polyester - must necessarily be thin enough to withstand tucking and sewing (no actual cutting is involved), without resulting in great big lumps under the arms. Tartan cloth would not be thin enough to withstand this. It's not thin enough to be made into a coat, for crying out loud, clothing would be nigh on impossible.
Except for kilts. Which are basically a bit of cloth wrapped around the middle.
Tartan is not, in fact, a venerated Scottish tradition. It's quite a recent English imposition (which leads me to think that McGonagall is either Muggle-born or at the very least has Muggle relatives not that many generations off) and, really, I'm not picturing her wearing tartan robes. If JK Rowling says otherwise, she's actually taking the piss from all non-Scots.
It's also bloody heavy. And
So there.
ETA: 'tartan' was originally the name of the way the cloth was woven and had nothing to do with the pattern. It used to be blankets, rather than clothing, that was made of tartan cloth (although this was quite a few centuries back). Clan affiliations started cropping up via different colours because of regional differences in dye sourcing. It was only with Sir Walter bloody Scot and George IV's laws on what consitutes 'Highland dress' that tartan clan affiliations were standardised. Queen Victoria did her part too.
To wear 'tartan robes' would be akin to wearing great big woolen blanket all year long. It's heavy and uncomfortable. The cloth itself might have been of the right weight for Highland winters, perhaps, but it wouldn't have bene used in anything as close-fitting as robes that are, after all, measured and made for people. I'm taking the idea of robes from an adaptation of kimonos, that are all essentially the same shape and are made from a bolt of cloth, but vary between people when properly fitted. Kimono cloth - be it silk or polyester - must necessarily be thin enough to withstand tucking and sewing (no actual cutting is involved), without resulting in great big lumps under the arms. Tartan cloth would not be thin enough to withstand this. It's not thin enough to be made into a coat, for crying out loud, clothing would be nigh on impossible.
Except for kilts. Which are basically a bit of cloth wrapped around the middle.