Spinning the Ephemeral PDF - SMU Fashion Media

290 Fiona Anderson
Figure S
Middie-class Edinburgh family
photographed c. 1890. The
father is a butcher and he is
wearing a tweed suit. Courtesy
of the Trustees of the National
Museums of Scotland,
production into three main categories.^ Tweeds, which for example are
predominantly dark gray, with only subtle surface patterning might be
categorized as mainly showing a relationship with exclusively urban
contexts and activities (Breward 1999: 40). In contrast to this, articles in
the Tailor and Cutter, along with contemporary sartorial etiquette books
and photographs of people taking part in sport, suggest that bold checked
patterns and homespuns were primarily sporting cloths to be worn in the
country {The Major 1900: 19-21; Tailor and Cw^fer January 17 1901;
Lambert 1991). Tbe third category, which from the evidence studied
appears to be the largest, occupies a more ambiguous space, consisting
of a diverse range of cloths that according to the specifics of each design,
sbow a relationship with both rural and urban landscapes. These ambiguities
of landscape are linked to the fact that rural and urban contexts, were
deeply intertwined in the processes of manufacturing, designing, promoting,
and selling tweed cloth.
IWeed in Rural and Urban Contexts
The Scottish tweed industry was mainly located in the Borders region,
which is primarily rural and other significant tweed tnills of the period,
such as Johnstons of Elgin and Crombies of Grandholm and Cothal, were
similarly located in rural Fiighland areas. Fiowever, many of the leading
cloth merchants who acted as intermediaries between the tweed manufacturers
and tailors were based in London, thus forming a vital source
of communication and feedback about which designs were selling most
successfully (Fiarrison 1995: 49-51).
John Allan in his book Cromhies of Grandholm and Cothal 1805-
1960 discusses tbe role of James Locke the Regent Street tailor in expanding