Romancing The Plaid

This book was under the tree for me!

Evidently Mr. A was paying attention to my blog, and my not so subtle hint on the sidebar!

The inside cover reads, "William 'Braveheart' Wallace rode to battle in it. Queen Victoria decked Balmoral in it. Madonna donned it to strut on the stage. And the Apollo 12 astronauts took a swatch of it to the moon..."

..."Tartan, the beloved symbol of kin, clan, and nation to the Scots, has evolved into one of the world's favorite fabrics."

Part of the book is dedicated to fashion and to the designers who have made tartan part of their work, like Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood, Isaac Mizrahi and the late Alexander McQueen, who designed the dress above.

Marc Jacobs dress.

Kate Moss in a tartan wedding dress, designed by Vivienne Westwood.

The book's cover features Linda Evangelista in an Isaac Mizrahi strapless gown.

And my favorite dress by Bill Blass, who elevates tartan to an art form!

Seeing these gorgeous dresses makes me want to start sewing again!

I remember when my love for tartan began back in the 8th grade in HomeEc class.

I made a gored skirt and vest out of red tartan and even matched the seams.

Needless to say, I got an A in that class!

There are also lots of photos of men in kilts, like this one of Ewan McGregor.

Oh, be still my heart!

And Sean Connery upon receiving The William Wallace Award in honor of National Tartan Day,

April 5, 2001.

The last part of the book, The "Living" chapter is about the ways in which tartan is part of everyday life and interior design.

Ralph Lauren Home collection in the Madison Avenue store.

Ralph Lauren fringed shawl makes this holiday table festive.

Ward Denton and Christopher Gardner who were called on to decorate Glen Feshie, covered one of the bathrooms in tartan. They then framed pieces of tartan for the wall decor.

Glen Feshie is the estate where The Queen was filmed. It is very similar to Balmoral, which is "next door."

Tartanware! I could seriously start a collection. I already have one or two pieces already.

The author, Jeffrey Banks says this about tartanware, "When I bought my first piece of tartanware, I knew I had to have more. There is something completely attractive and addictive about all those plaids."

I couldn't agree more, Mr. Banks! Thank you for such a wonderful book!

And thank you Mr. A for putting it under the tree for me. I'll cherish it for many years to come.

This book has been out since 2007 and is sometimes hard to find.

You can order it from my sidebar Amazon "doohickey."