The Inveraray Tweed was last woven in Elgin over 130 years ago. Many District Tweeds from this period became lost in later enthusiasms for synthetic fabrics. Few merit revival so much as this rich and distinguished design. In 2003, after considerable research, Redshank Scotland of Inveraray commissioned the yarn with which to bring this vibrant and handsome tweed back to life. Using the original sample and weaver’s rod from 1872, Redshank has collaborated with the Islay Woollen Mill to recreate the pattern and match the quality of the 130-year-old weave. The first piece of Inveraray Tweed in over a century came off the looms at Bridgend on the Isle of Islay in February 2004.
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District and estate tweeds may be said to be cousins of clan tartans. While a clan tartan associates an individual with others of the same name no matter where they live, district tweeds identify us with the place in which we work, play, live, love or dream.
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The age-old tradition of district and estate tweeds was made more formal in the mid 19th Century when Victoria and Albert acquired the Balmoral Estate in 1848 and immediately designed the Balmoral Estate Tweed for their staff. The southern aristocrats who followed their monarch in purchasing shooting estates from impecunious or dissolute Clan Chiefs were disappointed when they were told (rightly or wrongly) that they were not entitled to wear tartan. They proved eager to follow the royal fashion of dressing their retinues and estate staff in identifiable tweeds.
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The tweeds worked well for all concerned. Landowners could compare tweeds while lalligagging over the after-dinner syllabub and could enjoy the sight of their retinues lined uniformly along the driveways of their estates. The stalkers and ghillies enjoyed effective waterproofing and camouflage on the hills and the mill owners, as might be expected, made a pretty profit. Ordinary people in the highland, island, rural and upland areas were given suit lengths of quality broadcloth which they could otherwise never have afforded. Today, we have access to some of the most beautiful, luxurious and pleasingly practical fabrics ever worn.
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The design of the Inveraray Tweed is based on the Glen Urquhart square (also known as a glen check). Originally adopted by the Countess of Seafield for her estate workers, the bass is of two threads of rust, alternating with two threads of corn and is repeated within a square formed by four threads of blood. The horizontal and vertical hairlines are thrown across to create the basket weave effect. The fabric is composed of pure cheviot wool from the Scottish Borders.
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A tweed of such character demands vision and flair in the design of the garments which it will create. Scottish designers Bernard O’Hagan and Lorraine Walker have brought just such qualities to the Inveraray Tweed Company collections.
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