In working out the price of the tartan, another thing to consider is whether or not it is to be officially recorded as a new tartan with the Scottish Tartans Authority. Recording fees (in Sterling) are £50 or £75 for members, depending on the category, and £75 or £100 for non-members. (Several X Marks members are members of the STA, including me.) That's from about $95.00 USD to $190.00 USD currently. That expense should be split amongst the people ordering tartan. A sample of the tartan (enough to show the full sett) must be submitted to the STA with the registration application. A recording certificate is provided, which should go to either Matt or Hank, I'd say.

Just for the sake of discussion, let me give an example of what a realistic cost for this kind of enterprise might be, in 'the real world'. I am currently working with a client who requested a new tartan for his surname (he is the official head of an Irish family, so named by the Chief Herald of Ireland, so he has a right to designate a tartan for the name). He is paying me €2300 ($2957.43 USD as of today) for three tartan designs (standard, hunting, and dress), recording all three, 10 metres of his tartan (standard sett only at this time) in 16 oz. worsted wool twill, and two 8-yard kilts. By the time I have paid the VAT on it (because it goes to my kiltmaker in Scotland from the mill, and the client is in Europe, too, so the finished kilts also incur VAT), the Customs tariff and Customs brokerage fee, and the carriage, I will not be making very much for all my work and 'creative genius' !

Woollen tartan is worth every penny it costs, but it just is not cheap, and for very good reason. It's produced from the finest of wool, processed and spun in the very best way possible, and manufactured into cloth with great expertise in a first-world country where the workers earn a decent living wage. Special looms are required for tartan, so it isn't even possible for just any fabric mill to produce it. Tartan-weaving is a proud and noble tradition that deserves respect and preservation. But that all costs money!