The Enduring Legacy: Women and Tartan Through the Centuries

When we think of tartan, the image that often springs to mind is the Highland warrior in his kilt, striding across the misty moors. But tartan's story in Scotland is incomplete without celebrating the women who wrapped themselves in its vibrant threads-women who wore tartan not as costume, but as daily armour against the Highland elements and as a proud declaration of clan and community.

Today, when you slip on a Great Scot Highlander Ruana, you're not simply choosing a beautiful garment. You're connecting to a tradition that stretches back centuries, to the very first Highland women who understood the power and practicality of woven tartan draped across their shoulders.

The Arisaid: Scotland's Original Women's Tartan

Long before tartan became a symbol of Scottish identity worldwide, Highland women wore a garment called the arisaid (also spelled earasaid); a draped, full-body tartan wrapper that served as cloak, shawl, and statement piece all at once.

From the 17th century through the 18th century, the arisaid was the quintessential Highland woman's garment. Picture a large rectangle of woven tartan, typically measuring around 12 to 13 feet long and 5 to 6 feet wide, worn over a simple linen shift or dress. The fabric was gathered at the waist with a belt, then draped elegantly over the shoulders and fastened at the breast with a silver brooch or ring.

Unlike the bright, bold tartans we often associate with clan dress today, the arisaid was frequently woven in more subdued tones, earthy browns, soft greens, muted reds, with subtle checks and stripes. These were working women's garments, after all, designed for the realities of Highland life: tending livestock, working the land, gathering peat, and enduring Scotland's famously unpredictable weather.

The arisaid wasn't just practical; it was versatile. On cold days, it could be pulled up over the head as a hood. When work demanded freedom of movement, it could be loosened or adjusted. And when the occasion called for dignity and presence, it could be arranged with grace and style.

Tartan as Identity and Resistance

By the late 17th and mid-18th centuries, tartan had evolved beyond practicality to become a powerful symbol of Highland identity. During the Jacobite uprisings, wearing tartan became an act of political defiance, a visible declaration of loyalty to the Stuart cause and resistance to the Union.

Women, no less than men, participated in this cultural statement. The arisaid marked them as Highland women, connected to clan, landscape, and tradition. When the Dress Act of 1746 banned Highland dress following the defeat at Culloden, it targeted men's kilts specifically, but the spirit of tartan lived on in the homes and hearts of Highland women who continued to weave, wear, and preserve their textile heritage.

The Evolution of Women's Tartan Wear

As the 18th century gave way to the 19th, and the Highlands slowly opened to the wider world, women's tartan dress evolved. The arisaid gradually fell out of everyday use, replaced by more structured Victorian fashions. But tartan never disappeared, it simply transformed.

Tartan shawls, sashes, and wraps became fashionable accessories. Women wore tartan skirts and dresses. The fabric that had once been the uniform of Highland life became a cherished link to heritage, worn with pride at gatherings, celebrations, and formal occasions.

Yet something was lost in that transformation. The arisaid's flowing, adaptable design—the way it could be both protective and elegant, both practical and beautiful—faded from living memory.

The Great Scot Highlander Ruana: Tradition Reimagined

Enter the Great Scot Highlander Ruana, a modern garment with an ancient soul.

The ruana's design echoes the arisaid in every meaningful way. Like its historical predecessor, it's a draped, open-front garment that wraps the body in woven tartan. It offers the same versatility: wear it loose and flowing, or secure it with a brooch for a more structured look. It provides the same protection against the elements whilst maintaining elegance and ease of movement.

But here's what makes the Highlander Ruana truly special: it's woven traditionally by Scotland's family-owned mills using methods and machinery that have been passed down through generations. When you wear a Great Scot ruana, you're wrapped in tartan that has been dyed, woven, and finished using techniques that would be recognisable to the women who wore arisaids three centuries ago.

This isn't reproduction or costume. It's continuation.

The Highlander Ruana takes the essential genius of the arisaid—its adaptability, its beauty, its connection to landscape and heritage—and makes it relevant for contemporary life. You can wear it over jeans and a jumper for a walk through the countryside. You can drape it elegantly over a dress for an evening event. You can travel with it, work in it, live in it.

Just as Highland women once did.

Why This Connection Matters

In an age of fast fashion and disposable clothing, there's something profoundly meaningful about wearing a garment that connects you to centuries of women's history. The Highlander Ruana isn't just inspired by the arisaid—it's a direct descendant, carrying forward the same principles of design, craft, and purpose.

When you choose a Great Scot Highlander Ruana, you're supporting the same rural Scottish mills that have woven tartan for generations. You're preserving traditional weaving skills that might otherwise be lost. You're participating in a living tradition that honours both the past and the future.

You're also choosing slow fashion over fast, quality over quantity, heritage over trend.

Tartan's Timeless Appeal

Tartan has survived centuries of political upheaval, cultural change, and fashion evolution because it represents something deeper than pattern or colour. It represents place, the rugged Highlands, the windswept islands, the ancient glens. It represents people, the clans who wore their patterns with pride, the weavers who perfected their craft, the women who wrapped themselves in tartan and got on with the work of living.

The Great Scot Highlander Ruana honours all of this. It's a garment that understands tartan not as costume or cliché, but as a living textile tradition with deep roots and ongoing relevance.

When you wear it, you're not playing dress-up. You're carrying forward a tradition that began with Highland women who knew that the best clothing is both beautiful and functional, both individual and communal, both rooted in place and ready for whatever the day brings.

That's the legacy of women and tartan in Scotland. And that's the legacy you wear when you choose a Highlander Ruana from Great Scot.

Discover the Great Scot Highlander Ruana and connect with centuries of Scottish women's heritage. Woven traditionally by Scotland's family-owned mills. Explore our collection today.

Sources: Historical research on the arisaid and Highland women's dress, 17th-18th century Scottish textile traditions, National Museums Scotland archives on regional Highland wear.

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