probably the place to ask this...

[Bob C]

All tartans ar plaids, however not all plaids are tartans.

There's a lot of really bad information in this thread. Some of it joking, some not.

A plaid is a garment, not a pattern.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Depends on which definition you choose to use:

Main Entry: plaid
Pronunciation: \ˈplad\
Function: noun
Etymology: Scottish Gaelic plaide
Date: 1512

1: a rectangular length of tartan worn over the left shoulder as part of the Scottish national costume
2 a: a twilled woolen fabric with a tartan pattern b: a fabric with a pattern of tartan or an imitation of tartan
3 a: tartan 1 b: a pattern of unevenly spaced repeated stripes crossing at right angles
— plaid adjective
— plaid·ed \ˈpla-dəd\ adjective

[SteveB]

A tartan is a plaid where weft and wane are the same. However a fly plaid is a piece of tartan fabric. U.S. fabric shops love to market "tartan plaid", which is acrylic or cotton that has the same repeats on the weft and the wane, but are way out of proportion to each other. Our version of the Gold Bros. tat shop.

[Phil]

Is there a difference between a tartan and a plaid pattern (as opposed to a plaid garment)?

I think it is really a matter of semantics. In Scotland tartan is the cloth used to make kilts etc. and a fly plaid (or plaidie) is a length of tartan worn over the shoulder. In America any form of tartan seems to be referred to as plaid rather than tartan (except on this site where tartan is generally referred to correctly)

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Well you can get Madras plaid, which isn't a plaidie that was made in the subcontinent. I don't think the below could be called a tartan by any stretch of the imagination. OK, Maybe Clan Patel.



Forgive my flight on fancy about the "possession of an unregistered tartan" comment. I do mostly criminal defence work and it seemed to fit in with the tenor of some of my recent cases.

[Woodsheal]

Actually, there are some surviving pieces of 18th century highland tartan (pre-clan setts) that do NOT match in warp and weft. But they are considered "tartans" none the less....

[thescot]

Be sure you know the difference between plaid (played) which is a garment worn over the shouldern, and plaid (plad), a check type pattern. The latter is probably not used in Scotland like it is in the U.S. Over here we often call any check type pattern a plaid, as in Glen Plaid.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

So are you saying that Madras plaid is a tartan?

[slohairt]

Tis a confusing mess indeed. I tend to think of 'plaid' as an non-matching tartan-like pattern, and tartan as, well, tartan!

What makes the term 'plaid' even more confusing is pronunciation: Though 'played' is the accepted Lallans (and therefore English) pronunciation of the word plaid, 'plad' (as pronounced by many English-speakers) is really closer to the Gaelic plaide, which would be pronounced more like plad-a.

[Finn]

Just to confuse this further...
Hodden Grey does not seem to be a pattern, but is a tartan.