Crossed or straight sporran tassels

**Anndrais** · 19th February 20, 01:32 PM

Hi all!

I hope this is the right section for this...

I’d like to ask for opinions on straight vs. crossed sporran tassels. Is this purely a matter of personal taste, or are there any practical considerations? I like the look of crossed tassels, but many of the photos I’ve seen (non commercial) with crossed tassels, they appear lopsided. I don’t want to have to keep checking my sporran every 5 minutes!

If anybody has any thoughts on this, I’d love to know.

**Jock Scot** · 19th February 20, 03:00 PM

I think that you are overthinking the whole thing. If you like a certain style of sporran tassel then wear them.

**Anndrais** · 19th February 20, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

I think that you are overthinking the whole thing. If you like a certain style of sporran tassel then wear them.

Thanks for the reply

I could well be overthinking it - but as I have no experience, I just wanted to check with those that have. For all I know, there could be a chorus of guys saying “crossed tassels may look nice, but they won’t stay in place and every time you sit or stand, you have to untangle and straighten them.” - I like the crossed look very much, but not when it’s wonky - which I’ve seen in quite a few photos.

**Jock Scot** · 19th February 20, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Anndrais

Thanks for the reply

I could well be overthinking it - but as I have no experience, I just wanted to check with those that have. For all I know, there could be a chorus of guys saying “crossed tassels may look nice, but they won’t stay in place and every time you sit or stand, you have to untangle and straighten them.” - I like the crossed look very much, but not when it’s wonky - which I’ve seen in quite a few photos.

I can’t say that I have ever noticed! In truth, from a practical point of view, I have no personal experience of that style of sporran and in my experience it is not a style of sporran that I see very often around here.

**Taskr** · 20th February 20, 03:49 PM

Anndrais,

Is this what you mean by crossed tassles? http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-refurb-91852/
It took me a bit to get the balance of the chains correct, but they have never been an issue with tangling or other.

**Katia** · 20th February 20, 04:59 PM

It would be easy enough to take a couple jump rings and attach the chains together in the position that you want them...

**Anndrais** · 21st February 20, 04:44 AM

Originally Posted by Taskr

Anndrais,

Is this what you mean by crossed tassles? http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-refurb-91852/
It took me a bit to get the balance of the chains correct, but they have never been an issue with tangling or other.

I can see that would be quite hard to balance right! It looks great though! The style I was thinking of is more like this:

grey-seal-skin-stag-black1.jpg

I think perhaps the bells end up sliding/jumping a link or two when sitting and then not returning to centre when standing.

**Anndrais** · 21st February 20, 04:49 AM

Originally Posted by Katia

It would be easy enough to take a couple jump rings and attach the chains together in the position that you want them...

Good point. I suppose it might be possible to use a very fine thread to secure each bell to the chain link it's supposed to be on - then they couldn't slide to the left or right and would always be centred

**OC Richard** · 22nd February 20, 08:04 AM

Originally Posted by Anndrais

The style I was thinking of is more like this:

grey-seal-skin-stag-black1.jpg

That chain arrangement is nice if you don't want the tassels swinging back and forth as you walk.

Wow there's a lot of stuff going on with that cantle. Those things coming in from the sides with the thistles on them remind me of pull-tabs on beverage cans. Personally I'd like a more thought-out and internally consistent design, without all the overlapping things.

Pretty sure it was designed using a Graphic Design program and clip-art.

**ThistleDown** · 22nd February 20, 06:03 PM

The cantle is one often used by Margaret Morrison, WE Scott and others in Scotland. I seem to recall one of Kate Macpherson's african sporrans (a jackal?) with this cantle, too. I'll ask her

where they come from

when I see her next -- or maybe someone else could research that for this thread -- but I suspect an off-shore lower-labour-cost producer than will ever be found in Europe or the US of A.

The cantle is not really as unusual as you think. The little 'pull tabs' are found on many 19C silver-mounted sporrans. They were usually round protrusions, and not quite as nose-like as this one, perhaps, but still there are examples in the centuries of design craftsmanship and before these last few years of computer-generated fashion.

All of these things are personal preferences and time-sensitive, of course.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the 'new' crossed-chain-tassel design. But neither was I much fond of the so-called 'hunter' when it became fashionable. The latter seems now to be fairly reasonable, in my mind (although I wish they could rename it 'urban' since it has nothing to do with 'hunting') I suppose that's my acceptance of another move forward in the tradition of TCHD.

Good.