The Shepherd's Plaid in Orange and Pink

The Shepherd’s Plaid is steeped in Scottish folklore. Historically woven in the Scottish Borders, this interwoven check pattern, using two different colourways, was worn by shepherds tending to their flock. Used as a piece of utilitarian workwear, this large rectangular piece of fabric would be wrapped around the shepherd’s body during lambing. They would use the material to shield themselves from the elements while outside farming, collecting lambs who had strayed in the fields and placing them inside the plaids to carry them back to the farm.

During the Scottish Enlightenment, Sir Walter Scott hijacked this piece of utilitarian workwear and repackaged it as formal highlandwear to the landed gentry. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were so enamoured by the romanticised image of Scotland that the Balmoral effect was officially born. Nowadays you typically see plaids worn in traditional wedding settings over a kilt. However the humble plaid harbours many more uses. Cuddle underneath it on the sofa or thrown over your shoulders when out in all seasons, it really is the hardest working textile you could own - those shepherds certainly understood.

As the first garment L Y N N E worked with in her role as brand guardian of one of Scotland’s oldest artisan tartan mills, the plaid is a very personal piece to her. Often gifted to her friends and family who are moving in together, celebrating a house move or are getting married, plaids can come in a plethora of colours. These are L Y N N E ‘s favourites for this season.