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Nixeris t1_jduytle wrote

Reply to comment by atlantis_airlines in Oldest tartan found to date back to 16th Century - A scrap of fabric found in a Highland peat bog 40 years ago is likely to be the oldest tartan ever discovered in Scotland, new tests have established. by ArtOak

Tartans weren't associated with specific clans until the 1800s. They were just basic cloths that sometimes had an interesting weave. Early tartans often didn't even have a color pattern to them.

"Plaids" just means blanket, and describes an old garment style where you drape the blanket of cloth across the body (now often called a "great kilt"). Even those didn't often have any special color variations, just a very workmanlike clothing style.

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iswackynewarchdevil t1_jdyqkoy wrote

I read somewhere that the kilt's modern resurgence was because of Walter Scott's historical narratives. They caused a sort of nostalgia for bygone days which led to people resurrecting such traditional memes

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