Here's a pic from Tuefel's recent wedding thread.


The groom and his brother are both wearing ancient MacDonald of the Isles Hunting. But notice the difference in the sett size.

I, personally, think the larger sett size looks better. But this is obviously a personal preference.

Which brings me to the reason for this post. We spend a lot of time when we select a tartan for our kilt debating on whether we want the modern, ancient, muted, weathered color schemes, etc. But do any of us give much thought as to what sett size we would prefer? When we are shopping around, comparing samples from different mills, does the size of the sett affect our decision?

In a few older pattern books I have seen it would sometimes happen that a mill would produce the same tartan in two, sometimes three different sett sizes. If mills were to do this today, would you, as a consumer, appreciate having the option?

I suppose I am just curious as to how much this is even a factor people consider when purchasing their kilt (or tartan cloth).