For the love of Tartan...and plaid.

photo: Land's End

I have a love-hate relationship with tartan. I LOVE the look of tartan and the warm, cozy Scottish feel of it. I myself have the best of both worlds built right into my home: a pure-bred Scotsman (well, not born there, but not watered down either...) who has a healthy love of plaid/tartan... which his more urban brother teases him mercilessly about. Yes, take my man into a men's clothing store, and his built-in plaid honing device steers him directly towards the plaid shirts.That is where the love-hate component comes in: while he does look great in plaid, I am thoroughly sick of seeing him wearing it! I have slowly weaned him off wearing them on a daily basis, and have come up with the ultimate compromise: plaid shirts when he is at work (he is a forest engineer), and normal clothes when he is not working. So, that seems like the end of the problem: no more overdosing on plaid??

Well, not totally. You see, I have mentioned before my dear hubby's difficulty with forking over the cash to buy furniture. He insists on quality, but is hesitant to fork over the money. You see, my Scotsman is what my mother teasingly(?) calls a "canny Scot", which means that he does not like to part with his hard-earned money. So, herein lies the dilemma. When we go furniture shopping, we have a very set budget (as in set in stone). He has to love the item before he will agree to buy it, and it has to be well made. This can be a bit of a contradiction in terms. Well-made and inexpensive?? Of course, this means that said item must therefore be on sale. Add to the mix the difficulty in getting stylish furniture in my small town, that is also on sale, and I am very limited in my choices!! This leads to the biggest reason for my love-hate relationship with plaid/tartan: my plaid sofa and loveseat. Purchased in 2002...on sale... they are very autumnal in colour, and although they were the most comfortable sofas with beautiful legs, a large piece of plaid furniture just does not work with my more cottagey, fresh decorating style. Purchased back then for my family room (in a different house), in my present family room is where they reside today...covered up by a simple stretch and fit slipcover from dear old Walmart. Of course I have settled in that regard but since they are jumped on, on a daily basis... and even used by my youngest son to practice his high jump technique... I do not want to invest in custom-made slipcovers for them. Indeed, when you sit on them, the person in the middle sinks a bit. My plaid loving hubby feels they are just fine, but can't figure out why I have covered them up with a slipcover! Hmmn, maybe because the sight of him sitting sunk in the middle of one, while wearing a clashing plaid shirt just doesn't seem all that "right"...!!!! Of course, it would make a funny picture - and I could label it "Love-Hate"...hubby being the love part, of course!!!

As much as I tease him, I do love plaid and tartans myself. Especially on children at Christmas. I love nothing more than seeing my boys wearing matching plaid shirts on Christmas day (although I think that may be ending...), and Sophie has lovely little plaid skirts, and I am on the hunt for beautiful tartan shoes for her Christmas outfit (as the nearby Gap stores have sold out in her size). I also love bits and pieces of the fabric thrown in on pillows, blankets, and especially a tartan umbrella!! I can't bring myself to wear a plaid top along with hubby, though...matching outfits just won't happen in our marriage!!

So, as I no longer have any real tartan/plaid pieces in my home that is awash in light colours, I will have to get my fix looking at hubby in his shirts, and pictures like these...(aren't the clothes gorgeous??!!).

Of course, things could always be worse, hubby could dress like this:

Or this...

All clothing photos: Land's End and Ralph Lauren