Tartan, from the kilt to the catwalk

Hi everyone!

It's already the end of the semester at UWS and also the end of my Erasmus year in Scotland. That's why this is my last article. 

It was a really great experience for me to write my own blog! I would like to thank everyone who reads me and those who have kept faithful to me since the creation of the blog. Thank you very much! 

So, for this last post, I am going to explain how Tartan came in fashion. Nowadays fashion designers use the pattern increasingly in their fashion collection. And this year as I showed you in my previous article, we saw a lot of tartan during the Fashion Week 2016.

Tartan appeared in the runways during the nineteen nineties with two major fashion designers, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. 

Alexander McQueen was the first to use his talent to make fashionable tartan and history. His use of this tartan is significant because of the many cultural and historical associations the textile carries. For McQueen, tartan was a reference to his own Scottish heritage as well as to Scotland's turbulent political history.

Suit, Highland Rape, autumn/winter 1995–96 (jacket and skirt not worn together on the runway)

If you would like to learn more about this famous fashion designer, this is a great report about him. 

Vivienne Westwood has a fascination with Scottish traditions. In 1993 she created a collection "Anglomania". Have a look on this blog concerning the tartan clan on the Vivienne Westwood website.

Westwood and McQueen have deliberately subverted the traditional and historical associations of the fabric. 

Few years after, other designers started to use tartan like Comme des Garçons in 2000, Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton in 2004 and Balenciaga for the fall show in 2006. 

Then thanks to the Fashion Weeks and those designers, famous people started to wear Tartan like Sarah Jessica Parker in 2006. For the Metropolitan's gala benefit dinner to celebrate the opening of the 2006 exhibition AngloMania: Tradition and Transgression in British Fashion, McQueen and the actress Sarah Jessica Parker arrived together in matching tartan finery. 

In the end of this article I would like to talk about my talented friend Alizée Loubet who is studying fashion design at La Cambre, one of Belgium's leading schools of art and design. I’m very proud of her and during this year she created a beautiful bust of tartan. I wish one day, we will see her collections on the catwalk! 

Tartan & co

Men's fashion

With the new trend of tartan in the fashion industry, it’s now possible to buy tartan clothes everywhere in the shops for both women and men. Nowadays, men are also more concerned about fashion and follow the trends. 

So guys it's time for you to wear Tartan if you don’t already do so! 

In this article you can see my selection of the best tartan in the shops and easy for you to all buy yourselves. I really hope it will inspire you.

The first one, is a shirt with the traditional red tartan pattern from the Asos website. The shirt is really easy to wear, you don’t need to think too much, wear it with a black jeans and you will be so trendy. If you don’t like the colour, the website has a lot of different shirts with tartan pattern. You should find your happiness.

The small ‘pluses’ of this product, the shirt is on sale on the website and so affordable!

Now the tartan trousers: 

I found this tartan trousers from the Jigsaw website. Of course this trousers is less affordable than a simple shirt but it’s a good quality as described in the website, tailored for a slim-fit and impeccably cut from high-quality Scottish wool. I love the trousers worn with a turtle-neck jumper, so elegant!

To finish, the tartan bow tie is the accessory that you need! When you wear a suit the bow tie ends a dress with elegance.

The first bow tie is from Ties online and is on sale. This tartan bow tie is really nice during this season. Nevertheless you can find other colours in the website.

The last one is from Asos, I choose this bow tie because it’s really classic and cheap (on sale again). Thus for £4.50 you can have a nice tartan bow tie, it’s definitely time to try! 

Tartan & co

NYFW & Tartan

Hi everyone!

The New York Fashion Week (NYFW) held in February and September of each year. It is a semi-annual series of events, generally lasting 7–9 days when fashion collections are shown. After the NYFW in February I wanted to share with you the best tartan (or plaid as the Americans say) creations of the year. 

As always, the New York Fashion Week brings the biggest trends of next year. This year, there was a strong recurring looks and one of them was the plaid!

Brands like Rag & Bone; Victoria Beckham; Calvin Klein; Rachel Zoe used the tartan pattern in their collection and they approached it in a much cleaner, subtler, muted way as you can see with the picture below. 

Nevertheless the most impressive collection with tartan was during the show of Victoria Beckham. The designer mixed sleek stripes and pristine plaid with cool cut-outs at her fall 2016 NYFW show. During the show you can see the evolution of her personal style. She told to Vogue 'I wanted to find a new cool, fresh way of wearing it again, making it more daywear, more modern,' and it was a success.

To finish, the tartan lesson style by Vera Wang!

This year Vera Wang presented a collection with a new key item: the plastron, integrated into a linear silhouette, exaggerated with monster platform sandals (thick and high), and worn with spats of varying height. The long line was inspired by Giacometti. During the NYFW Kendall Jenner, the 20-year-old model walked the runway for the Vera Wang show with a nice plaid.

Why you should wear Tartan: 
You can be trendy and sexy with this pattern. Kendall Jenner is wearing a traditional tartan shirt with a black oversized trench coat, the perfect mix.

Show by Vera Wang, 16/02/2016, New York.

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