Tartan is incorrect

[CaseyB]

So, my brother designed a tartan and we registered it with the STA and once it was registered I placed an order to have it woven. I noticed some weeks later that one stripe was wrong on the STA website, so I emailed them and they said it was their error and that they would fix it. I also emailed the kiltmaker who ordered the tarten for me and sent them the corrected colors to pass on to the weaver. The got an email back from the waver saying it was already woven and boxed up to be shipped! I am going to get 20 yards of tartan than is wrong. What should I do? What CAN I do? Is my only solution to learn to love the new tartan?

[Urchurdan]

Thats a sore one, I would have thought that as the STA has admitted that its their fault, it would be down to them to rectify it. No fault could be levelled at the weavers door I would imagine. Maybe the STA could register the wrong tartan themselves under a different name and sell it on?
I hope you get this sorted out okay, I wouldn't like to think you end up with the wrong tartan, good luck....

[JerseyLawyer]

This sort of thing could be a law school contracts exam question. Of course, much like when a doctor tells you you're an "interesting case", that shouldn't inspire your confidence all that much.

The STA made an error in placing the Tartan in their registry, as a result of that error, the thread count provided to the mill was incorrect. The mill was asked to produce 20 yards of fabric in X tartan, with a given STA number. They did just that - they were unable to know that the tartan was registered wrong, since they didn't design it. Am I right on the facts here?

So, other than prevailing on the mill to be good chaps about the whole thing, and remake 20 yards of expensive wool tartan fabric (presumably selling the "mistake" as seconds or a nameless fashion tartan), you might well be stuck with it. Which means you'd either have to pay to have another length of fabric made, or wear the erroneous tartan.

I don't see what your options are. The STA is mostly at fault, and regrettably, the registrant is probably also somewhat at fault for not double-checking what the STA registered. You can come prepared with your biggest smile and ask nicely to see if the mill will correct the "mistake", but then they'd be the ones taking the bath on the tartan, and I'm not sure if they're willing to do that. Won't know unless you ask. If your kiltmaker gives them a lot of business, and asks on your behalf, they might be more amenable, but I don't know the specifics of that situation.

Sorry.

[Tartanman]

I think perhaps a sense of proportion and a few more facts are needed here fellows! Firstly, the Borders tartan that Casey refers to was not registered with us - we no longer 'register' tartans as such, that's now the task of the official Scottish Tartan Register maintained by the National Archives of Scotland. What we did was 'out of the kindness of our heart' list the tartan as requested with no fee changing hands.
That doesn't alter the fact however that I made a slight error and entered an off-white 2 as a white 2. Regrettable as that is, we wonder how many people are going to notice that?
When Casey contacted us a few days ago part of our reply was as follows: "It would be unwise at the best of times to refer a weaver to a website when you should have sent him the threadcount yourself but since the difference between off-white and white will hardly be noticeable I wouldn't have thought you would have a problem."
Hopefully that sheds a bright light on the matter and will convince Casey that even the most hawk-eyed observer is never going to notice the minor bloomer!
Brian Wilton,
Director, Scottish Tartans Authority

[CaseyB]

Brian,

It was not my intention, in either the email or this post to lay any blame on you. As this was my first tartan, first time having anything woven and first time paying $600+ for fabric I was simply turning to people with more experience seeking advice to see if there was anything to be done. The answer from both fronts is "no, there is nothing to be done." And that's fine, I just didn't think there'd be any harm in asking.

[Paul Henry]

There are tartans which owe there existence to mis readings of thread counts so it happens. But frankly the difference between two threads of white/off white doesn't seem to be so terrible, there could be a lot worse.I know it's hard when something isn't just as you wanted it, but you have your own tartan ( albeit not perfect) and I'm sure you will grow to love it

[figheadair]

Technically, the tartan is not incorrect. It's more a case that it didn't turn out quite as expected.

We are not talking about two different tartans but of the shade of one colour and actually a bleached white will fade to an off-white similar to an unbleached (ecru) white after a little use and exposure so the visual effect will be very much as intended.

[Jock Scot]

This excerpt from "Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia" by George Way and Romilly Squire. There is a section on tartans in the book, by Alastair Campbell of Airds, which may help. These three Gentlemen are probably amongst the foremost experts on the subjects of Clans, tartans and kilts.

Page 40:

".....there is no strict law which lays down the shade of colour to be employed, unless a sett specifically contains a lighter and darker form of the same colour. Campbell of Cawdor, for instance, contains both light and dark blue but one manufacturer's "light blue" may in fact be darker than another's "dark blue". Red is red and green is green, whatever kind of red or green it is and many variations may be found; for this reason, the modern practice found in some cases of specifying such niceties as "plum" or "cerise"( my words;- "white or off white") is to be deplored; there are too many possibilities of interpretation for such specifics to be clear and the Lord Lyon will dissuade would-be users of such terms...."

Interestingly for future tartan designers to also bare in mind, he goes on to say:-

"....another entirely modern conceit for which there is no historical foundation is the claim for symbolism in the colours employed-gold for the cornfields, green for the pinewoods, blue for shining rivers, and so on. In some cases this has been carried as using threads of various colours in numbers which reflect a date or some significant number, a fantasy which is unlikely to lead to good design."

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I'm going to agree with Peter here 100%. If the only difference is between "white" and "off-white" I really wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Especially if we are talking about a stripe that is merely 2 threads wide. I don't think it would hardly noticeable. Chances are that even if the mill used pure white, after a while it would look "off white" anyway! :-)

When I first read the original post, I thought we were dealing with a completely different color, or perhaps an entire stripe omitted. That would be unfortunate.

I know from experience that tartan thread counts can very easily be recorded incorrectly. This is true of the STA, the National Register, and any book on tartan that you happen to own. In fact, I have NEVER read a book on tartan where I have not been able to identify at least one, often multiple, errors in thread counts (this includes books I have written myself!).

For that reason, when I am submitting an order for a custom weave of cloth, I always make sure that I know exactly what I want, and then I send the mill a specific thread count. And I accompany the thread count with a visual image of some sort. That way if I make a mistake in typing in the thread count (it happens) they have a visual to compare it to, and if there is a discrepancy between the count and the image, they can contact me to verify what I want before weaving. This has saved my rear end on a few occasions!

But in this case, the difference between "white" and "off-white" in a stripe that is only 2 threads wide, would hardly have been noticed anyway.

Lastly, remember that the STA's International Tartan Index contains over 7000 tartans, the information for which has come to them from a wide variety of sources which may or may not have had their own errors. Plus all that data has to be entered in by hand. It is a surety that some errors will creep in. The only way to correct those errors is to contact the STA when you notice something wrong so that it can be corrected in short order.

As far as mistakes in tartan go, I think you were pretty lucky in this case.

[Pleater]

If the line is on a band of a colour which will not be altered, take a cup of weak tea (do not underestimate the colour of a tea stain) and a small sponge, dip and squeeze out the sponge, and dab lightly along the lines.

Allow to dry and then repeat the process if necessary.

OK - it will be a job to change all the lines in such a length of fabric, but if it means a lot then it is time well spent.

Tea or coffee is often used to tone down or artificially age a fabric or even a whole costume, either by total immersion or applying in patches.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: