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Kilts: What tartan was Tintin's kilt in "The Black Island"?

Smidgeroo
Member
#1 · Posted: 4 Jun 2007 08:23
I'm trying to figure out something silly. See, I was at the local Highland games and all the kilted gents parading around got me to thinking; what clan is the tartan pattern on Tintin's kilt, or which tartan pattern would come closest?
It's a pretty nondescript red with green stripes, no real detail, so the plainer the better, but a really detailed tartan would be fun, too.
We never learn the name of the kind man who took Tintin in and gave him the clothes, so it's up in the air.

Quite the pricy togs to just give someone, as true family tartans are quite pricy.

I was wondering because if a certain someone *Looks innocent* were to attempt to replicate said kilt, the certain someone would like thoughts on what tartan would be appropriate. If this certain someone is going to the effort to make a kilt, she wants to go all the way and make it with real tartan, not WalMart bedsheets.

As a joke, I looked up the Lamond tartan, but it's blue and green. :/ (Anyone have a screencap from Picaros of the Loch Lamond girl on the TV ad? I want to see if she's actually wearing the colors of the Lamond tartan. XD I left my copy of Picaros at work for a coworker, so I don't have a reference handy. :D )

One last thing: would it be inappropriate to suggest a set of Tintin emoticons for the site? I think that with the expressiveness of the characters, we could easily have an awesome smiley theme. <3
Balthazar
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 4 Jun 2007 11:19
Smidgeroo
Anyone have a screencap from Picaros of the Loch Lamond girl on the TV ad? I want to see if she's actually wearing the colors of the Lamond tartan.

Hi, Smidgeroo. The loch name is spelled Lomond, whereas the clan you've been checking out is Lamond, (more commonly known as Lamont), whose historic area doesn't seem to border Loch Lomond. This website - http://www.loch-lomond.net/theloch/clans.html
gives the names of the traditional clan areas around Loch Lomond. You'll see that none of their tartans look much like the tartan that the Loch Lomond Whisky lassie wears. That said, some clans have more than one tartan, so she might have a wider choice of tartans from those clans around Loch Lomond than the tartans displayed on that website. But my guess would be that Hergé simply made it up.

There's nothing wrong with making up tartans. As I understand it, although many tartan patterns are indeed pretty ancient, and historically identified with different clan areas, the whole system of completely classifying specific tartans for specific clans wasn't really formalised until as recently as the 1800s. So some tartans are relatively recent - late-Georgian reconstructions or Victorian inventions. And many "officially registered" tartans are even more recent than that, with new ones being commissioned and designed all the time for societies, associations, brands and commercial companies. So your distinction between "real" tartans and WalMart bedsheet tartans might not be as clear cut as all that!

I'm not sure which clan tartan most resembles the red/green one on Tintin's borrowed kilt. Googling something like "clan tartans of Scotland" should get you to some relevant websites, if you've got the time to trawl through them. Good luck!
Smidgeroo
Member
#3 · Posted: 4 Jun 2007 18:00
I spelled it wrong! Go me! :D Thanks for your wise... er... wisdom. :D I'm thinking of just going for what I think looks closest since, again, no name was given for the kind benefactor. I don't really need to worry about it for quite a while. I actually have another costume feat I want to attempt more... Tintin's spacesuit! *Devilish cackle*
jock123
Moderator
#4 · Posted: 31 May 2017 14:33
A little late I know, but I was just reading about the reworked Black Island, and thought the following might be useful, if anyone were thinking of buying or making a Tintin-appropriate kilt...

The issue of Tintin magazine dated 1st June 1965 featured a special cover by Hergé, which advertised the fact that - starting inside - was the "revised, corrected, rejuvenated and entirely re-drawn" version of The Black Island.
Against a tartan background it shows Tintin and Snowy surrounded by places and characters from the story. Tintin is in his Scottish outfit from the adventure, and for the first time his kilt has been rendered in more detail that the simplified red-with-green-striping with which we are more familiar; in fact, an attempt has been made to show that it is the same tartan as the background of the page.
As such, Royal Stewart (the tartan used) isn't a clan tartan, per se, but that of the monarch; it is generally held that any subject could therefore wear it, but that permission should be sought by organizations which which wish to use or incorporate it into uniforms etc.
However, it has been so widely reproduced and used that it is now classified as a "Universal" tartan, and can be worn by anyone wishing to wear a tartan and who isn't entitled to a family tartan.
Tintin obviously isn't (at least in the original books) a British subject, but as he gets his kilt in extreme circumstances, I am sure Her Majesty wouldn't object anyway, but the universality of it now makes it a good choice for a non-Scot.
By the by, if you are looking for a simpler red and green tartan you might want to consider the Stuart of Atholl or the Ancient Cameron tartans - neither is precisely as drawn in the book, but the colouring is close, and the look might be achieved.

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