Cowboys in Plaid

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

OSU Tartan Unveiled. OSU president Burns Hargis and his wife, Ann, look over the first shipment of tartan blankets to the OSU Student Store with Dr. Paulette Hebert, design, housing and merchandising professor, and Judy Barnard.

Student creates the first official OSU Tartan

(STILLWATER, Okla., August 3, 2009) - Oklahoma State University alumni, students and fans have a new way to display their loyalty and spirit.  A tartan plaid has been added to the official images for the university and items woven in the plaid are available in selected stores beginning today. Blankets and scarves woven by Pendleton Woolen Mills will showcase OSU’s official tartan, designed by OSU junior Stephanie Michalko.

The unique plaid is a weave of OSU’s orange, black, gray and white and is a result of a student competition held during the Fall of 2008. College of Human Environmental Sciences professors Paulette Hebert and Lynne Richards directed the contest among students who had completed a course in textiles. The winning design was chosen from four designs by on-line voting in November.

“We felt this would be a meaningful way design, housing and merchandising students could learn how a product is developed from the idea to the creation,” Hebert said.

Michalko, a student in the design, housing and merchandising department, said she was excited to have her design chosen.  “I am an interior design major, but I am very interested in textiles and their use in interior design,” Michalko said. “This was a great experience to be able to apply what I have learned.”

The OSU Tartan is officially registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority. As in Scotland where tartans are used to identify families, the OSU Tartan will be another sign of membership in the OSU family.

While the blankets and scarves are the first items produced using the OSU Tartan, Judy Barnard, former OSU director of trademarks and licensing, expects a number of products from stationery to kilts to be available soon in the plaid. 

“We have had a great deal of interest in producing apparel and other home accessories using the OSU Tartan,” Barnard said. “The vendors should contact the OSU office of trademarks and licensing for more information.”

OSU tartan stadium blankets are available at the OSU Student Union Bookstore and the OSU Authentic Store on campus and at Stillwater merchants Elizabeth’s and Chris’s University Spirit. Wool scarves will arrive in these stores in a few weeks.