Plaid shirts are a staple in the modern man's wardrobe. He can use it to add a splash of color to neutral basics without seeming too feminine or flamboyant. When a man hangs a couple of plaid shirts in his closet or wears a twill shirt out for a night on the town, he might not think twice about the diverse array of cultures and counter cultures that proudly called the colorful crossed fabric their own.

Scottish Tartan

Long before plaid shirts were popularized by American teenagers, plaid was known to the Scottish highlanders as the tartan. Wool was died into different colors and woven together into a series of horizontal and vertical stripes of varying widths and showed a variety of patterns.

Each pattern was worn by a different Scottish family or clan. During the many tumultuous battles between Scotland and England, the tartan became a symbol of Scottish independence and was subsequently banned for a period of time by English overlords. Even though the ban was lifted, it is still a proud symbol of Scottish heritage.

Lumber jacks and cowboys

As the tartan moved its way west, it found use with the laborers in the new world. Plaid shirts became sort of a cliché garb of the lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, and with the cowboys of the southwestern US. At the turn of the century, when lumberjacking was in its heyday, plaid shirts were typically made from woolen fleece, which made it perfect for keeping the body insulated, warm and dry.

Further south, cowboys and ranch hands and agricultural workers adopted plaid, but instead of fleece it usually came in the form of a twill shirt. While denim shirts certainly seemed to be the item of choice, plaid was high in the rankings. When cowboy shirts and western wear experienced a revival in the 1950s, a plaid twill shirt with a western cut was a must have for a men and women's casual wardrobe.

Grungers, Hipsters and Punks, Oh My!

While plaid has been a friend to Scottish nationalists, and the laborers of the west, it has most recently made itself a symbol of the counter culture and underground music scenes. With the rise of the punk scene in the late 1970's plaid was a symbol of the establishment. British and American youth would wear plaid in unconventional ways to symbolize their reaction to the authoritative culture.

Similarly, adherents of the grunge scene that began in the 1990s chose baggy plaid shirts or denim shirts, torn jeans, and unkempt hair as a way to express their discontent with social boundaries. Hipsters also utilize the continually versatile cloth in yet another way; the soft artistic and musical types use fashion to recollect simplicity in a folksy friendly style.