Thoughts on this tartan

[Zardoz]

I like the colors, but I think I'd like it more if the sett was a little smaller.
That having been said, pair that with the charcoal argyll that almost everyone has, and you'd almost have a "kilt suit" look going, pretty cool.

[Tobus]

Ditto. I saw this in MM's swatch book and thought it dull and uninteresting. There's something to be said for simplicity of a tartan design, but this is too simple for too big a space (then interesting for too small a space).

Interesting observation, Rocky. That seems to be my feelings on it as well, but again, I wonder if maybe the tartan is simply not being "shown off" as well as it could be.

After all, this tartan isn't any more boring than a windowpane tweed, and those can look very nice on a kilt... if the rest of the outfit makes it look good, that is.

I do agree that the sett size on this makes it have large patches of nothingness, and then small areas of interest, which gives it an odd effect. Looking at the front apron of the kilt in the photos does indeed make it look pretty hum-drum. But the folds of the plaid give it a little more interest. I wonder if this particular tartan is better suited to applications where it would be folded/draped in a random manner, rather than the crisp, neat lines of a traditional kilt?

[pascs]

Well I've gone ahead and ordered the kilt in this tartan. I wanted something dark but I didnt like the black tartans and wasnt too keen on the grey tartans. I already have 2 green/blue tartan kilts so this should make an interesting alternative without costing the fortune of a normal made to measure wool kilt

[AKScott]

Well I've gone ahead and ordered the kilt in this tartan. I wanted something dark but I didnt like the black tartans and wasnt too keen on the grey tartans. I already have 2 green/blue tartan kilts so this should make an interesting alternative without costing the fortune of a normal made to measure wool kilt

It sounds to me like you have shopped around and I bet you will be happy with it. Looking forward to pictures.

[OC Richard]

It's not the colour of the tartan that's important to me, it's the history and the ancient connections. Without those, no tartan is pretty in my eye.

Few old tartans have much of a history (that is, an origin/pedigree/provenance which can be documented) and none are what I would call "ancient". (Well I don't think of the 19th century as being Ancient History, anyhow.)

The notion that tartans might be called anything other than "a tartan" or "a plaid" began with the 18th century Highland regiments, and the concept of specific named clan tartans seems to be a 19th century invention (probably growing out of the Cameron, Gordon, and MacKenzie regimental tartans).

For an old clan tartan's pedigree, we usually see it first appearing in a 19th century book such as Logan, but there is no known provenance beyond that.

Or it might appear in a Wilson pattern book, though oftentimes the Wilson tartans are known by numbers or fanciful names, and only later given clan designations.

Or, a tartan might be seen in an 18th century portrait, but we cannot know if the person wearing the tartan called it anything other than "a tartan", or if the sitter was indeed even aware of the concept of clan tartans.

So, I prefer to look upon tartans as they originally were: artistic expressions of a Celtic aesthetic to be enjoyed for their design and colour.

[biblemonkey]

With that jacket and sporren, YES!

Chris.

***

[pascs]

Kilt arrived today and I'm very impressed with Tartan4less for their speed and communication.

And even happier with the look of the tartan, better than I had hoped for. The colour is charcoal with creme and beige stripes

The build of the kilt isnt anywhere near as good as my hand sewn kilt but its still pretty good. And with 7 yards of material its quite heavy too. The sett is also a bit smaller than the way it appears on the website and there are 4 repeats in the front panel instead of only 3 as shown in the previous website pics.

Unfortunately pics will have to wait, I'm away on business for a week but will post some pics once I'm back.

[Cowher]

Kilt arrived today and I'm very impressed with Tartan4less for their speed and communication.

And even happier with the look of the tartan, better than I had hoped for. The colour is charcoal with creme and beige stripes

The build of the kilt isnt anywhere near as good as my hand sewn kilt but its still pretty good. And with 7 yards of material its quite heavy too. The sett is also a bit smaller than the way it appears on the website and there are 4 repeats in the front panel instead of only 3 as shown in the previous website pics.

Unfortunately pics will have to wait, I'm away on business for a week but will post some pics once I'm back.

Oh please do. I think it looks like a really sharp tartan

[ForresterModern]

There's something to be said for simplicity of a tartan design, but this is too simple for too big a space .

Rocky, I used to think the same thing about the Douglas family of tartans, that the color scheme was too simple (albeit a degree or two more complex than the Eternity) and the sett too large, especially with that dominant white stripe. But, as I do have a connection to the Douglases historically, I tried my first in ancient colorway, liked it and have not looked back since, having bought 5 total varieties in different colorways (ancient, modern, ancient red, brown, and black Douglas) and have tartan in weathered waiting or a kiltmakers needle to make my collection 6. The dominant widely spread white stripe is obvious in the modern but less so in the ancient, weathered, and brown versions, and a totally different and less dominant color in the ancient red and black Douglas versions, so the larger sett is less obvious. Plus I think the larger sett works better on someone my size where several setts can be included across the apron, making the big sett effectively look somewhat smaller and more appropriate to my relative overall size. Obviously YMMV depending on your size with regards the larger setts.

The Eternity set purchased seems well balanced from a color standpoint and as Zardoz says gives an over all coordinated and stately simple dressy appearence, even if the specific tartan has no particular affiliation/association/meaning from a historical scottish sense, in essence a fashion tartan for simply fashion (sorry Alan) purposes alone.

[RockyR]

Rocky, I used to think the same thing about the Douglas family of tartans, that the color scheme was too simple (albeit a degree or two more complex than the Eternity) and the sett too large, especially with that dominant white stripe. But, as I do have a connection to the Douglases historically, I tried my first in ancient colorway, liked it and have not looked back since, having bought 5 total varieties in different colorways (ancient, modern, ancient red, brown, and black Douglas) and have tartan in weathered waiting or a kiltmakers needle to make my collection 6. The dominant widely spread white stripe is obvious in the modern but less so in the ancient, weathered, and brown versions, and a totally different and less dominant color in the ancient red and black Douglas versions, so the larger sett is less obvious. Plus I think the larger sett works better on someone my size where several setts can be included across the apron, making the big sett effectively look somewhat smaller and more appropriate to my relative overall size. Obviously YMMV depending on your size with regards the larger setts.

The Eternity set purchased seems well balanced from a color standpoint and as Zardoz says gives an over all coordinated and stately simple dressy appearence, even if the specific tartan has no particular affiliation/association/meaning from a historical scottish sense, in essence a fashion tartan for simply fashion (sorry Alan) purposes alone.

I don't think Douglas is "too simple". Matter of fact, I quite like it. If you look at the designs I've done (American Heritage, Law Enforcement, Scruffy Wallace, German Heritage, etc), MOST of them are relatively simple. However, there's such a thing (in MY opinion, and we all know what opinions are like), as too simple or unbalanced. Douglas has a 50 / 50 balance of blue and green with highlights of white in the blue and black / blue in the green. It's balanced. The Eternity tartan (again, in MY opinion), is a bit too simple since the whole thing is grey, with the exception of that single striped area. Too much of an expanse of 'solid'.

This is not knocking PASCS's new kilt. If he likes it and enjoys it, that is all that matters! That's why there's more than 1 tartan... so there's one for everyone's tastes!