Tweed Jacket Color Advice

[OC Richard]

I don't know if you venture north at all in CA, but there IS Wm Glen & Son at 360 Sutter St in San Francisco, just off Union Square and about a half-block east from the Apple Retail Store, which anchors the NE Corner of that shopper's paradise.

The very first time that I became aware that there were different fabric weights and color palettes for "Robertson" tartan was in 2016, when I wandered in and ended up being measured for a bespoke kilt to be sewn for me in Scotland. I had NO knowledge then of the various mills (or kilt fabricators), modern vs. ancient tartans, or even what "dress" vs. "hunting" tartan meant, but they did have a whole BUNCH of swatch books from various mills, which I used to make my totally uninformed choice.

Yes now that you mention it I did visit them once. My son lives within walking distance, and I was likewise wandering around the neighbourhood. I didn't see the swatch-books, probably for the reason that I wasn't expecting to find such there. I'll go back and take a look.

Back in the 1980s I knew the swatch-books by House of Edgar, Lochcarron, and Strathmore very well, but as I mentioned a huge number of tartans have been invented since then, and Marton Mills needs adding to the mix. It would be good to update my "eye" for tartans.

[jsrnephdoc]

Yes now that you mention it I did visit them once. My son lives within walking distance, and I was likewise wandering around the neighbourhood. I didn't see the swatch-books, probably for the reason that I wasn't expecting to find such there. I'll go back and take a look.

Ah, so you've been there ALREADY! Now it's time to confess: did you stick your head into the "warrior" welcome-in photo-op poster out front? Lucky for you, I can't seem to scale down the jpg I have in my phone from when I did so while ordering my first kilt in 2016.

I don't know whether they have a defined relationship with just some mills, but I remember I was given at least 3 swatch books to browse through and spent FAR too little time doing just that before selecting one from several Robertson Hunting (ancient).

Of course, another part of their business is Scotch Whisky, which I'd known only from Jonnie Walker Red back in my college years.

Back in the 1980s I knew the swatch-books by House of Edgar, Lochcarron, and Strathmore very well, but as I mentioned a huge number of tartans have been invented since then, and Marton Mills needs adding to the mix. It would be good to update my "eye" for tartans.

One of the real delights of my last visit to Scotland in summer 2023 was the morning we spent on a tour of Lochcarron Mills in Selkirk. I'm not sure why more of the mills don't offer such. It may be because Lochcarron has an adjacent retail shop. I did learn some things about family or clan tartans vs. "fashion" tartans (and how Lochcarron manages their relationships to designers who purchase fabric from them—for one thing, their customary contract permits them to sell remaining inventory of fashion tartans to any willing buyer if the fashion house decides not to purchase any more fabric and doesn't do so for 18 months).

I'm pretty certain you won't find swatch books that include those fashion tartans at retailers not permitted to sell them. For example, USA Kilts has this habit of designing up to a dozen pretty much simultaneously, all reflecting some "topic" (currently it's USA 250). You won't find those tartans available at Wm Glen or anywhere else BUT USA Kilts, but of course USA Kilts will sell fabric as well as garments.

The Lochcarron mill tour takes you through the cavernous room where their looms are clicking and clacking and their dye vats are working, and also through an amazing much smaller room where "oopses" in a bolt of cloth are repaired by hand when that's possible.

And, when you're done, Lochcarron will recommend a delightful local restaurant for a casual but delicious lunch.

We had no idea when we visited that DC Dalgliesh was in the same village. Of course, we also had no idea that DC Dalgliesh EXISTED back then.

Oh, and we also spent a few hours on another day at Glenlivit, but MISSED our tour because we had no IDEA of the possible pace of traffic on the paved sheeps paths in Speyside.