by Robyn Yager | In Canada, plaid has long run especially rampant in Fall, but it’s also making a high fashion turn this season (see Hedi Slimane, Dries Van Noten, Stella McCartney, Celine, et al). As a “look”, it has traditionally been associated with lumberjacks, bros, Judd Nelson and Jordan Catalano, but it has roots that run much deeper than any contemporary trend or champion. Its origins are actually wrapped up in identity politics and fierce (and not so fierce) rebellions.

By definition, a “plaid” (from the Gaelic: “blanket”) is a garment worn as a singular piece of tartan fabric around the waist with one end tossed over the shoulder and fastened at the front. In North America, the descriptor is used interchangeably with “tartan” in reference to particular textile patterns. The word “tartan” is thought to come from the French word “tiretain” (from the verb tirer – “to draw”). The plaids/tartans that we’re familiar today consist “of cross horizontal and vertical bands in two or more colours in woven cloth”.

Tartans can be found in many cultures across the globe, but in Scotland, their specific colours and patterns represent clans, sects, families, and institutions. They were such a part of Highland identity that the English banned them as part of their strategy to bring the Scottish clans under their rule. The tartan was actually made illegal for an entire generation (1746-1982) via the infamous Dress Act. In the modern era, they are used to differentiate events, governing bodies, military groups, and so on, evoking pride and a sense of belonging.

Plaid and Canada are of course very close friends. Like it or not, from Bob and Doug Mackenzie to Don Cherry’s awful suits, the pattern is entrenched in our DNA, much like the toque. Canada even has an official tartan, as do each and every province (you can find those here).

In today’s fashions, tartan has become commonplace, usually in the form of button-up shirts, pants, skirts, or accessories (hello Burberry), but it first re-emerged as an expression of personal style in the rebellious and very anti-fashion punk subculture of the 1970’s, when the Royal Stewart tartan was worn in ripped shreds – a figurative middle finger to the civility of high British society. Vivienne Westwood is largely symbolic of this movement and has been incorporating tartans (as well as safety pins and bondage gear) into her designs since the beginning of punk. The pattern simmered in the 1980’s, particularly in film, alternating from prep (Sixteen Candles) to rebel (The Breakfast Club), before Marc Jacobs brought it back to the high-fashion forefront in 1992. He was no doubt inspired by the Pacific Northwest’s grunge movement, sending Doc Martens, flannels, and thermals down the runway. And so it seems that plaid will always says something about identity, and because of that it is one of those fashion facets that will always return with new meaning and something new to say.

Finding plaid in the city this time of year is easy. Walk down any fashion-forward, boutique-heavy street in Vancouver and you’re likely to cross a window display featuring the pattern in some form or another. For really great selections of plaids and flannels, check out Community Thrift & Vintage on Cordova for men and the Frock Shoppe on Carrall for women. Who knows, maybe one of the shirts you find belonged to a legitimate Canadian lumberjack at some point, with his best girl at his side…

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