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My obsession with tartan could be attributed to my Ulster-Scots ancestry, but it is probably just as much a result of my mother's love of Rod Stewart and the Bay City Rollers.

This much maligned and stereotyped fabric is experiencing a renaissance, moving away from the cliches of biscuit tins and tourist tat into a revered and respected piece of fashion history.

Both my maternal and paternal families have Scots heritage, each with their own clan tartans:

my family/clan tartans: campbell & foster

my campbell tartan shirt (£8.00 from primark & my 50p river island sale bow tie)

Tartan is a woven pattern rather than print and while often referred to as plaid, plaid actually refers to the tartan blanket worn over the shoulder in traditional Highland dress. Don't you feel better for knowing this? Aren't you going to feel smug when you can correct someone? You're welcome.

Tartan has been used in some of the most iconic fashion trends of the 20th century, when it was adopted by the British punk movement as a motif, using what was once the fabric of the gentry as a sign of rebellion. It is here we saw the Stewart tartan (the official tartan of Queen Elizabeth) turned against the perceived upper classes.

malcolm mclaren & vivienne westwood were the pioneers of punk fashion

tiger of sweden spring 2014

topman red/black tartan check trouser £34.00 £17.00