Manteau de madras écossais from Costumes Parisiens Unknown artist Paris, France, 1827 Palais Galliera, Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris, K3964
Robe de madras écossais from Costume Parisien Unknown artist Paris, France, 1823 Amsterdam Museum, A 56150

Distinctions between Scottish tartan and South Indian Madras were further blurred by the use of Madras as a tartan substitute in European fashion. European merchants capitalised on the trend for Highland dress by selling Madras cloth woven in tartan-like designs and colourways as ‘Scotch Madras’.

By the mid-1800s, the two fabrics were so conflated that some believed Madras to be no more than 'an Indian imitation of Scotch tartan'.

Related Database Records

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