Gaelic Themes · Glasgow
The story of Gaelic Themes
A family business founded in Glasgow in 1999, bringing together Highland tailoring, leatherwork and the art of the clan crest.
Our Glasgow workshops
Highlandwear from our Glasgow workshops
The fall of a kilt, the line of a jacket, the detail of a clan crest: each begins with a knowledge of materials and an eye for proportion. For our tailoring and kiltmaking, we select fabric exclusively from the finest mills in Scotland and across the UK.
Gaelic Themes brings these skills together in Glasgow, where Highland dress and clan crest metalwork take shape in our specialist workshops. Part of the family-owned St Kilda Holdings group, we share a lasting affection for Scotland’s craft traditions.
Our history
A family business since 1999
Scott Chalmers founded Gaelic Themes in Glasgow in 1999. Today, his son Bob leads St Kilda Holdings, continuing a family commitment to Highland dress, heraldry and the traditions of Scottish piping.
Our first home at Park Circus
Gaelic Themes began at 14 Park Circus in Glasgow, bringing together Highlandwear, clan crest products and Scottish gifts.
Highland dress and the piping tradition
The business grew alongside R. G. Hardie & Co. and the Peter Henderson name, drawing Highland dress and Glasgow’s bagpipe-making heritage into the same group.
A new home on Grovepark Street
The move to 45 Grovepark Street marked a new chapter for Gaelic Themes. It remains our head office today.
A Glasgow home for Vernon Bros tailoring
Vernon Bros joined the group in 2002. In 2012, the Leeds tailoring operation moved to 55 Broad Street in Glasgow, where our tailoring and kiltmaking workshops are based today.
The next generation
Under Bob Chalmers’ leadership, the group continues to develop its workshops and collections, with Scottish craftsmanship at the centre of the business.
Caption in the hand of her daughter, Jenny Chalmers.
Christina MacDonald MacQueen
From St Kilda to Glasgow
“I call it Hirta, which means to me just ‘home’.”
Christina MacDonald MacQueen, 1930
Our connection to St Kilda begins with Christina MacDonald MacQueen, the grandmother of our founder, Scott Chalmers. Born on Hirta in 1884, Christina left the island for Glasgow in 1909.
Her writings preserve the texture of island life: its Gaelic language, the rhythm of spinning and weaving, the closeness of family and community, and the sea that shaped each day.
Scott began the project to gather and preserve his grandmother’s writings. Her seventeen surviving articles were published together in 2025 as St Kilda: My Island Home, edited by Miles Kerr-Peterson and Michelle H. Craig. Discover Christina’s story.
Our clan crest collection
The art of Scottish heraldry
A clan crest carries a story of family and belonging. Its character lies in the smallest details.
Our collection begins with the heraldic drawings of Romilly Squire, created for the Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopaedia. In our Glasgow workshops, those carefully drawn details are translated into metal, then cast and finished to give each design its definition.
From the curve of a crest to the lettering of a motto, the original artwork guides the finished piece: a connection to Scottish heritage, made to be worn.
Gaelic Themes
Highlandwear, clan crest metalwork and Scottish gifts, with tailoring and manufacturing at the heart of the business.
R. G. Hardie & Co.
Bagpipes made in Glasgow, continuing the city’s rich piping tradition within our family business.
Peter Henderson
A historic name in piping, whose instruments form an enduring part of the group’s Scottish heritage.
Explore Gaelic Themes
Discover our craft
See the tailoring, leatherwork and casting behind the collection, or discuss a trade enquiry or bespoke project with our team.