Modern Scottish Style: Tartan, Knitwear and Tweed

Scottish fashion has some awful stereotypes to shake off, despite the huge wealth of design talent that we create. From itchy Arran sweaters knitted by nannas to dodgy "tartan" and "cashmere" from tourist tat shops, the world doesn't exactly look to Caledonia for innovative trendsetting. So, I wanted to show that, as well as all of the amazing designers and brands based here that I wear and promote regularly, Scotland's famous fashion tropes of tartan, knitwear and tweed can be stylish too.

My first look for the photoshoot I did with the lovely Alice from Twenty-Something City who took these fab photos around Edinburgh (see the snaps I took of here on her blog!) features my take on the classic kilt! I wore this red tartan miniskirt which is an old purchase from Urban Outfitters as my 'kilt' and styled it with a black tank top, black tights and burgundy heeled boots. I threw on Alice's bold red River Island jacket for a few shots, and my boyfriend's oversized vintage grey jumper for some others.

For the second outfit, I wanted to give tweed a bit of a modern makeover by styling an androgynous look. I borrowed (stole) my boyfriend's tweed trousers from Armstrong's vintage emporium, and made them work for my shape by turning up the hems and belting them high on the waist. I continued the menswear-inspired look by styling them with a black linen button-down shirt and chunky Chelsea boots, and I am really happy with how this somewhat experimental outfit for me turned out!

Here are all of the outfit details:

Tartan Look

Top: M&S (buy here) Skirt: Urban Outfitters (similar here) Boots: Topshop (similar here) Jumper: Vintage Jacket: River Island, borrowed

Tweed Look

Shirt: M&S, thrifted (similar here) Trousers: Vintage Belt: New Look, thrifted Sunglasses: Sum Company (buy here) Boots: New Look, thrifted Jumper: Vintage