From Bagpipes To Plaid Bags: The History Of The Famous Gaelic Pattern

Plaid has been a feature of trends from ‘70s punk culture to ‘90s rebellious yet preppy mini skirts to today’s hipster flannel shirts. But there’s more legacy behind plaid items like your coveted Burberry bag than you realise.

Read on as we give you the rundown of where the plaid pattern came from and where it’s going (hint: it’s going straight into your closet).

Makeup Of The Fabric

Let’s start off with the basics. The pattern consists of horizontal and vertical crisscrossed threads woven together in various pre-dyed hues. Although plaid is typically created from wool, it is now used with a variety of different fabrics.

Scottish Heritage

Plaid, deemed “tartan” in the United Kingdom, has been the symbolic national dress of Scotland since 1782. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, the print became an invented tradition with different patterns representing various Scottish clans. Today, it is an important part of Scottish clan culture.

B.C. Plaid

For all these reasons, plaid is most commonly attributed to Scotland. However, there is evidence that the print existed earlier and further away, in the ancient Celtic civilizations of Central Europe between the 8th and 6th centuries BC.

We’re sure you already have an arsenal of bags—but do you have one with this much weight to it? We’re willing to bet you don’t. Now that you’ve heard all about the Scottish legacy behind this popular print, sport your plaid bag like it’s just as important as your bagpipes… Which is, obviously, very.

These plaid bags are so cute you’ll wish you had a kilt to go with them.

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