Quote Originally Posted by Captain View Post
<snip> but is there normally this much variance between mills?
The down and dirty answer is - Yes. There can be very much difference between the fabric colors that come from different mills.

That is one of the reasons that you always want to order a fly plaid at the same time that you order your kilt. Then, if you want to go high formal, with fly plaid, the tartans will match. -And if you never use the (roughly 1 meter by 1 meter) square of tartan as a fly plaid, you can give it to your lady to wear as a shaw.

The next time that you have a chance to go to a Highland gathering or Highland Games, stop in several of the Clan tents, and you will see wide variations between the tartans.

And we are not even talking about the difference of Old, Ancient, Weathered, Modern, Different wool dyes, different wool blends....... the differences in your tartan can be amazing.