Large sett tartans --- show us your kilts :)

[Rod Roy]

Some nice, bigger settings shown in this thread but not necessarily large IMO. The OP did not define what he meant by a large sett, standard kilt-weight settings are around 6-7 inches these days but were much large in the past. Steve has pointed out that some setts, particularly those based on the 42nd tartan, itself originally a plaid sett, are often in the 12 inch range. For me, to qualify as a large sett then it would have to be at least 12 inches. That said, some simpler tartans, such as Wallace or Rob Roy, could qualify at a smaller size, perhaps 8 inches.

Thank you for your useful comment on this thread, figheadair. I think I should have mentioned that I’m interested in both large setts as such and especially large setts of the 18th century. As far as I know, large setts were very popular in those days (...)

[figheadair]

Thank you for your useful comment on this thread, figheadair. I think I should have mentioned that I’m interested in both large setts as such and especially large setts of the 18th century. As far as I know, large setts were very popular in those days (...)

It's not so much that large setts were popular in the 18th century, or indeed at any other time, but that sett size was not standardised, unlike today. Historically, sett size was influenced by the intended use of the cloth; plaid setts were often large and frequently included some form of selvedge mark or pattern whereas material for clothing would often have a smaller sett.

[Rod Roy]

[QUOTE=figheadair;1374844]It's not so much that large setts were popular in the 18th century, or indeed at any other time, but that sett size was not standardised, unlike today. Historically, sett size was influenced by the intended use of the cloth; plaid setts were often large and frequently included some form of selvedge mark or pattern whereas material for clothing would often have a smaller sett.[/QUOTE


Figheadair — I understand that some plaid setts were large, and used for the feileadh mhor. I’m just wondering, would you say that in the 18th century wearing a kilt or rather a feileadh beag with a large sett was a matter of personal preference?

[figheadair]

[QUOTE=Rod Roy;1374845]

It's not so much that large setts were popular in the 18th century, or indeed at any other time, but that sett size was not standardised, unlike today. Historically, sett size was influenced by the intended use of the cloth; plaid setts were often large and frequently included some form of selvedge mark or pattern whereas material for clothing would often have a smaller sett.[/QUOTE


Figheadair — I understand that some plaid setts were large, and used for the feileadh mhor. I’m just wondering, would you say that in the 18th century wearing a kilt or rather a feileadh beag with a large sett was a matter of personal preference?

The 18th century was a period of considerable change during the period from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th centuries. I suspect you man the period up to roughly the mid-point of the Proscription era, say c1770, as after that we start to see the beginnings of commercial/industrial production.

That being the case, and given that we have relatively few examples of kilts (feileadh beag) then I suspect it was more a case of what was available than a choice in most cases. It's also reasonable to assume that un-joined plaiding would have been used in many cases and that that would therefore often have been a bigger sett.

[Rod Roy]

[QUOTE=figheadair;1374853]

The 18th century was a period of considerable change during the period from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th centuries. I suspect you man the period up to roughly the mid-point of the Proscription era, say c1770, as after that we start to see the beginnings of commercial/industrial production.

That being the case, and given that we have relatively few examples of kilts (feileadh beag) then I suspect it was more a case of what was available than a choice in most cases. It's also reasonable to assume that un-joined plaiding would have been used in many cases and that that would therefore often have been a bigger sett.

Yes you´re right, figheadair. I was talking about the time frame from the 1740s to 1770s. As always, your comment is very useful, thanks.