Plaid (pattern)
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Plaid (pronounced /ˈplad/) is a Scots language word meaning blanket, usually referring to patterned woollen cloth; it is unclear if the Gaelic word Plaide came first.
- In British English, and in Scotland, a plaid rug or tartan rug is a large thick woolen twill cloth, often tartan, used as a travel rug or as a blanket. It may be laid on the ground as a groundcloth for a picnic.
- When the modern kilt is worn as a dress uniform, for example by pipe band Drum majors, a plaid (or full plaid) is a pleated cloth in the same tartan as the kilt, cast over the shoulder and fastened at the front. A similar plaid in checked cloth was formerly worn by Scottish lowlands shepherds.
- Historically the earlier form of the kilt was the belted plaid, a double width of thick woollen cloth worn pleated and fastened around the waist by a belt, with the upper half often cast over the shoulder but sometimes hanging down over the belt and gathered up at the front or brought up over the head for protection against weather. This was worn over a leine (or shirt) and formed an all-weather outfit that also served as a blanket or bedroll for sleeping outdoors. It is mostly associated with the Scottish highlands, but was also used in lowland rural areas.
- In the movie Spaceballs, Spaceball One was able to break the speed of light and go into plaid, a completely different dimension of light travel.
- Plaid is also American English for tartan. Plaid is cloth made with alternating stripes and bands of color woven into or dyed onto the fabric. This makes blocks of color that repeat vertically and horizontally in a pattern of squares and lines.
- In the 1990s, with the grunge era rising, plaid and flannel became a very popular clothing item with the rising popularity of groups like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains.
- Pop punk band MxPx (Magnified Plaid) are so named due to their original guitarists' fascination with plaid patterns.
