Sett size??

[M. A. C. Newsome]

It is important to realize that tartan is much more of an art form than a science. It is a visual art. And to that end, what matters most in distinguishing one pattern from another is the visual similarity.

I have an old MacGregor kilt hanging in my closet. It's probably over 80 years old at present. It is quite obviously the MacGregor tartan. In fact, here I am wearing it, standing next to Sir Malcolm MacGregor, chief of the clan.


No one, not even the chief, would say the tartan I am wearing was anything other than Clan MacGregor.

Just for fun one time I decided to take a thread count off of this kilt. I compared it with every variation of the MacGregor tartan, official and otherwise, on record with the Scottish Tartans Society, who at the time had the largest available tartan database. (This was years before the National Register came about). The thread count on my kilt matched none of them. Not a one.

And I do not simply mean a difference of ratio. It was not as if the number of threads had simple been doubled, or trebled. The number of threads for each element in the tartan was off by a slightly different proportion to that of other design elements in each recorded version. Numerically, my tartan was quite different. But visually...? It is quite obviously a MacGregor.

So the definition of a tartan is much more subtle than being a strictly defined thread count, from which no variation may be made. It is the overall design and color, and is a very subjective matter. Does it look like the correct tartan? Or doesn't it?

[Tartan Tess]

Ahem.....
Lets get this back on track please. I don't need to start my day with anger.
After all I have learned about this, I still request swatches before I buy period.
I feel what Matt said about making a kilt an art form, and try to match body shapes with sett sizes if possible.

[Spartan Tartan]

Thanks Tess...

Thanks to EVERYONE that helped answer my questions at the start of this thread. I will admit, due to the cost of custom weaves--especially in recent incrases in the price of wool--I agree with Tess. Swatches are the way to go. Getting eyes on an actual piece of material is my future starting point. Not much sense playing with adjusting the sett until I know how it looks in "real life" (compared to the computer monitor).

[warrior]

So taking what Matt said. The actual sett thread count is not an exact absolute, save for actually registration purposes maybe, as long as the recognizable pattern is adhered to.

MacLeod of Lewis aka Loud MacLeod
MacLeod Snuffbox (my avatar)
MacLeod #3

All of these are similar but different yet all are identifiable as MacLeod tartans.
Even a change in dominate color as in MacLeod Black and White still follows this concept of pattern.

I like the method behind the art form known as tartan. It is not static but has the freedom to add or subtract slightly subtle changes yet must still meet a standard of pattern. Freedom time be an individual yet still protected within the clan.