Sandra Macdonald: Scottish Connections

A tartan skirt

My tartan story goes like this. My mother decided to sew an adult size Macdonald tartan skirt for herself. She then turned it into a skirt for my five year old self by doubling the hem, using darts, suspenders and other various tailoring tricks. It had a side zip and two inch pleats.

She entered it in a sewing contest and won.

I have various photos from over the years of me wearing it. The skirt was gradually let out and lengthened, till it finally reached its full bigness. Unfortunately my mother was about three inches shorter than me and very slender.

I had to retire the skirt for a year or so. But then, glory be, miniskirts came in and it was back in my wardrobe throughout high school. I still have it and live in hope that someday my girth will shrink enough so I can wear it again.

If I knew how to sew, I could even start the process all over again for my grand-daughter who is nearly three.

Sandra in second lady’s position, wearing her modern Macdonald tartan vest while dancing rights and lefts in Argyll’s Fancy. Two others with Macdonald family connections are also dancing – Kristin Macdonald Downey and Duncan McDonald.

The skirt is in the modern MacDonald tartan.The vest that I wear is the same. The fabric itself came from an old institution in Windsor, Ontario called BM&G (Bartlett Macdonald and Gow) which was the second oldest ‘dry goods’ store in Canada (after the Hudson’s Bay Company), liquidated about 1970, founded about 1870.

Below is a photo of the skirt in its current condition. There is no appropriate model in my bubble to show it at its best as it doesn’t fit me and Andrew has declined, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

from Sandra Macdonald
30 April 2020

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