Limits of tattersall

[Tobus]

So, if one wanted to define the cloth then a reasonably description would be: a check pattern with a plain ground of white or cream with fine, evenly spaced overstripes of the same size in one or two colours and having different colour stripes in the warp and weft. A bit of a mouthful but that seems to cover everything one might think of as a traditional Tattersall pattern.

I couldn't help but notice that you added "white or cream" background as part of the definition, where the other definitions tended to just use a general "lighter colour" description. Does this mean that a pale yellow, light dusty beige, or a pale blue background would fall out of the tattersall range? Considering Steve's example of the original (which seems to be a distinct creamy yellow), we can safely say that a stark white is not necessarily required. But how far can it safely stray from white-ish before the traditional eye sees it as more of a "plaid" instead of a tattersall type pattern? What hues would be a turnoff? Would, say, a light pink background take it away from tattersall territory?

Another visual example seems appropriate. Here's a photo that includes some more of my tattersall shirts, laid out together (all from Samuel Windsor). Numbers 1 and 2 are from my original example, and I've added 3 and 4. It isn't quite so noticeable when any one of these shirts is seen by itself, but when laid together it is obvious that none of them use the same background white. Number 1 is the brightest white, 2 actually seems to be a very pale greenish hue, 3 is a very subtle cream, and 4 is a darker cream or dusty colour.

And going back to Steve's example and my attempt to find proportions of the original, it actually seems like number 4 is the closest in proportions and even background colour to the original. We've already talked about number 2 being on the bold side and 1 being perfect for wearing with a kilt. What do you all think of 3 and 4 in terms of traditional pairing with a kilt? Number 3 seems to be a slightly larger grid pattern than the others.

(I suppose I should really just pull out my kilts and photograph these shirts next to them for better comparison.)