Called by John Telfer Dunbar, 'probably the most controversial costume book ever written', the Vestiarium Scoticum is a collection of tartan designs that influenced the 'tartan revival' of nineteenth century.

Later proven to have been an elaborate hoax by the brothers John Carter Allen and Charles Manning Allen, who claimed to be descended from Prince Charles Edward Stuart 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', the work was the result of over 20 years work in the Scottish Highlands collecting samples of tartan and befriending Scottish gentry enamoured with romantic notions of the country's past. Following the repeal of laws banning tartan after the success of George IV's visit to Edinburgh in 1822, various clans sought to celebrate their identity by adopting the ancient clothing. Entrepreneurial weavers began to produce a plethora of setts which were worn with pride at balls throughout Scotland and in London. In June 1829, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder complained to Sir Walter Scott of 'spurious modern "coats of many colours"' spreading across the country. He excitedly wrote to Sir Walter of his encounter with John and Charles, then using the surname Allan Hay and residing at Logie House, Morayshire. The brothers revealed they were in possession of a 1721 transcript of an earlier illuminated manuscript concerning clan tartans. The original manuscript, they claimed, was in the possession of their father, who had received it from Bonnie Prince Charlie after its discovery in the Scots College at Douai. To add further credence to their father's manuscript, they claimed that it had once been owned by the historian John Lesley, Bishop of Ross. Sir Thomas immediately made a transcript of the book and informed Sir Walter of his discovery (see RCIN 1047364). 

Despite Sir Walter's concerns over the authenticity of the manuscript, his own research into Scottish history showing no evidence for clan-specific tartan in the Highlands, no evidence of tartan ever being adopted in the Lowlands and no mention of the manuscript before Sir Thomas's letter among multiple other doubts, the discovery proved a sensation. The brothers produced painted swatches of different setts that they presented to friends and acquaintances who subsequently had them woven into fine tartans. They also planned to produce a printed version of the manuscript, complete with silk swatches of each of the tartans, however, a letter purportedly written by their father, but likely by John, forbade such an endeavour.

Demand for a published volume of the tartans increased over the following decade, and in 1842, coinciding with Queen Victoria's first tour of Scotland, they published the Vestiarium Scotorum. Now using the surname Sobieski Stuart, the brothers used the introduction to add further authenticity to their manuscript, explaining they had come across several other copies of the one in their father's possession. The Vestiarium was an enormously expensive book, costing ten guineas, and the plates produced using an ingenious technique devised by W. & A. Smith of Mauchline, Ayrshire. The machine was fitted with ruling pens, fed with opaque ink. The lines were then laid on black-surface paper, starting with the darkest colour. Lines were drawn vertically then the paper moved 90 degrees to account for horizontals. This ensured that each plate resembled woven fabric. The plates were then varnished to preserve the vibrancy of the colours, providing a luxurious sheen to each image. The stunning production meant that weavers and designers could refer to the illustration only when reproducing different setts. However, as the text, written in emulation of sixteenth-century Scots, was difficult to understand, mistakes in the plates could find themselves replicated in the fabric.
Although there was demand for a second edition, none was produced. The designs came to be included in various other publications on clan tartans through the nineteenth century. This cemented them in the Scottish consciousness has seen them in continued used across the country and among people with Scottish heritage.

Soon after the publication of the Vestiarium, critics brought the authenticity of the brothers' sources into question, particularly as the illuminated manuscript owned by their father had not appeared, nor had another copy they claimed was discovered in an Augustinan monastery in Cadiz. In his 1847 review of the Vestiarium, the Glasgow professor George Skenethat declared that the manuscript was an 'absolute fabrication' and that the brothers' claims were but 'the silliest of dreams'
After Charles's death in 1880, the supposed 1721 manuscript was found and subject to tests by Andrew Ross and Stevenson Macadam. In 1895, Ross published Macadam's findings, declaring that the manuscript had been exposed to chemicals to make the paper and text appear much older than in reality.