Amid their timeless quality, tartan kilts have come a long way from when they were an iconoclastic fashion statement against the Hanoverian crown of Britain (the 1746 Dress Act banned Scots from wearing their signature garment). At first, hardy Highlanders developed the tartan kilt in the 16th century, attire perfectly suited to the landscape, where Scots had to climb hills, traverse bogs, and fight the English with agility in all weather. It allowed them mobility during the Jacobite Risings to wield basket-hilted broadswords and protective targes made of iron-plated wood.
In recent times, the kilt has infiltrated more mainstream fashion trends, boosted by haute couture pioneers. The V&A Dundee celebrates this phenomenon in its exhibition Tartan, now on view until January 14. The exhibition chronicles the use of the classic tartan pattern in the high fashion creations of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, along with Dior and Chanel, while also displaying artifacts such as the MacBean tartan brought to the moon on the Apollo 12 mission.
Kilts have even seen a boost in popular culture of late from the television program Outlander—whose hunky lead, Sam Heughan, also helms the Starz travel show Men in Kilts—and the support for the dying art of kiltmaking from King Charles III, a Kinloch Anderson customer who recently had the company make him two kilts for his new role as monarch.
Even now, however, the shopping experience can be impenetrably arcane, given the kilt’s obscure-to-many history and, at Kinloch Anderson, the agony of choice. Getting fitted for a kilt is a scenario that—much like buying a rug in Morocco—legitimately benefits from having an informed expert by your side who can help explain the various options on the table, the historical context, and the cultural significance with sophistication and breadth that enhances the experience.
Amid that complexity, which often left me feeling a bit out of my comfort zone, I was glad to have Fraser as a wingman and instant sounding board. And as he did with me and my name, Fraser can go beyond the role of style concierge and connect clients to their Scottish heritage, in collaboration with The Balmoral. The hotel offers a full Tartan Butler Clan Tour (starting at about $1,576) that uses research from bespoke ancestry service Kilted Cousins Family Trees, paired with Fraser’s own library gophering, to bring guests to relevant areas of Scotland important to their heritage (such as ancestral castles) to provide a physical sense of place to pair with your historically accurate tartan sett.
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