Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin took care to avoid updrafts yesterday as he modelled a custom kilt made out of the newly designed Victoria City of Gardens tartan.

"There's a few fashion things that we can learn from our partners, such as how to sit," Fortin said, cautiously experimenting with crossing his legs.

Fortin has Irish roots but no known Scottish ancestors.

"But they're both Celtic and, before this, I really hadn't had a chance to get in touch with my Irish roots. I can hear strains of Riverdance floating through my head," he said.

The tartan, which has been registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority, is set to be officially adopted by Victoria council Thursday.

Creator Steve Ashton hopes residents will take pride in wearing it.

Ashton, of Freedom Kilts in Fernwood, took on the task of creating the design after a painful look at the previous tartan registered to Victoria.

Pink, turquoise and tacky, he said.

"Maybe the ugliest tartan in the world."

Luckily, the city never adopted the old tartan, leaving the field wide open.

The six colours used in the City of Gardens tartan are found on First Nations poles in the area and symbolize Victoria's attributes.

"The blue is for the ocean that surrounds us and green is for our forests and green spaces. The black represents the roads that connect us, the dark red is for the bricks of our heritage buildings and the small white and yellow lines represent splashes of colour from our city's hanging baskets," Ashton said.

"I was trying to design something pleasing to the eye which would mean something to the people of Victoria. ... It was something I did as a gift for my adoptive city."

Creating a kilt for Fortin seemed the best way to get a swath of the fabric to city hall, but it had complications, Ashton said. "From the time I measured him to the time I got to give it to [Fortin], he lost a lot of weight and I had to take it in," he said.

Of course, no kilt story is complete without the age-old question about what's worn underneath.

"To me, that's an incredibly rude question. If I asked you the same question, I could be arrested," Ashton retorted.

Fortin skirted the question.

"I guarantee I will not be skydiving in my kilt at the Victoria Highland Games," he said.