Tartan or plaid

Often I am asked what is the difference between tartan and plaid, are they actually the same or what exactly are they? It’s quite a simple distinction, but can be rather involved depending on where you are in the world.

Tartan doesn’t have an absolute agreed definition but perhaps is best described as a pattern where there is a regular repeating arrangement of lines of colour at right angles creating a grid like design. Most of the time this refers to a woven cloth where the weft and the warp lines have the same formula, this is known as the thread count, and the repeating unit or square is called the sett. This grid like pattern often repeats as a mirror image giving a typical symmetrical and fairly usual tartan pattern. A few tartans are not symmetrical where the design block repeats by simply moving across. There are also a few tartans where the weft and warp are not the same, this is a little unusual but does happen especially with the fairly recent range of Welsh tartans, and a few rather early or historic tartans, perhaps by accident rather than plan!

It follows that even a simple 2 colour check conforms to this understanding although some feel that calling a simple check a “tartan” is a little excessive but the Shepherd or Northumberland Tartan is exactly that and MacGregor/Rob Roy is again a very simple 2 colour even square check – in the United States the same tartan in a larger check in red and black is frequently known as Buffalo Plaid and seen on cotton Flannel shirts . It is unusual to have more than 6 colours, and the repeating unit is often between 5″ – 8″, but there are several notable exceptions to this, often as bravura pieces, two extremes are pictured!

No one is entirely sure where the word “tartan” came, there are several theories, but examples of tartan have been found in archaeological sites around the world, notably in the Taklamakan Desert, Northern China, dating from 3000 years ago; well before Scotland had even been considered the birthplace of them and with little real basis for tartans there before the mid 1600’s.

Plaid is a Gaelic word meaning blanket, essentially a large wrap of cloth which in time became known as the Great kilt or Feileadh-mhor and then as the belted Plaid. This was made from 2 pieces of cloth roughly 4.5 yards long by about 28″ wide, joined together to create a large rectangle, this was wrapped around the wearer and became the standard garment, blanket, and sleeping bag.

The Great Kilt, a large wrap of tartan arranged for comfort and protection
The Great Kilt, a large wrap of tartan arranged for comfort and protection

It might well have been the most important item in the possession of a Highlander .The cloth was a simple woollen cloth woven by local weavers in colours of their choice, or whatever was available, doubtless it was mixed colours both of fleece and dye and over time, perhaps hundreds of years, local areas began to be known by what their weaver could produce and the origin of district or area tartans.
When Highlanders and Scots crossed the Atlantic to find new land and opportunities for various reasons, the word plaid was often misunderstood to mean the pattern of the blanket rather than the garment itself, and this is the root of the confusion.


In the UK the word plaid only normally means a large scarf or wrap usually worn by Pipers or traditional kilt wearers on special occasions, as a nod to the old fashioned or historic kilt attire. There are a few variations as well but often worn over one shoulder , either on the diagonal or perhaps folded square, and often it proves a valuable extra layer in the cold.

In the US the word plaid usually means any sort of checked cloth, in any arrangement of lines or colours and the “tartan” word seems to be reserved for named, registered, or official tartans which conform to a regular repeating unit. There also seems to be quality difference that tartan is somehow “better” than plaid, and tartan is almost always wool and plaid can be anything from flannel cotton to quality merino wool.

So in essence a plaid is a garment and tartan is the cloth in the UK, and plaid a miscellaneous checked cloth and tartan is a regular repeat in the States, although Pipers still wear “a” plaid there!

Harpenden Highland Gathering 2019

a few shots from 2019

I think I found out about this Scottish event some 11 years ago, remarking at the time that a “Scottish Gathering” in the wilds of Harpenden, near St Albans was rather unusual, but it seems to be fairly well established going back many years. I went simply as an onlooker for a few years but decided that I would take my tent and test out the waters to see how much interest there might be in having a kiltmaker around. The event usually has 5 -7 pipebands, a Scottish sports arena with cabers, hammers, weights, and haybales, often some dogs, geese, ferrets, and/or birds of prey. Lots of childrens’ entertainments, climbing walls, Scottish Dancing and Piping competitions, and a large selections of charity stalls, often a classic car collection and a good selection of military cadets who help enormously with the set up and tidy up at the end, so all in all a good family day out.
Very few visitors are kilted, but it is definitely an all age event.

It certainly proved worthwhile to take a pitch as I got 7 orders for kilts in the first year, so almost an embarrassment of riches, although that hasn’t been repeated over the last 7 years, sadly!
I think I have almost become a fixture at the event now as I’m the only kiltmaker and although I still get some orders a lot of my time is spent answering enquiries about which tartan/clan to wear. It is this task which has got me thinking about whether or no it is really worth my while to attend.
There have been the sensible to weird requests……such as my grandmother came from Scotland what tartan should I wear ( with no further information, not even name ) …. to “how dare you wear the Black Watch, it is private…. to the you are wearing the kilt wrongly – it needs to cover your knees, (I’m a kiltmaker I try and get it right!) …. Sometimes an identification from a fuzzy phone picture makes the owner incredibly happy and me as well! A recent one was , 2 years ago someone picked a tartan he liked, could I tell him what was it? I’m happy to report that I did vaguely remember and managed to dredge the little grey cells, finding a sample of it and getting an order for a new kilt, so it’s worth being patient!

The pitch fee is fairly small and I usually cover that with a few sales of hose and accessories, and often I get a few kilt orders, but it takes a whole day for two or three of us to man the tent, and I need a few days in advance to gather everything together, and an early start in the morning to get there. It’s not a straightforward decision as to whether to continue, most of the time I work on my own and it is a quiet and solitary occupation sewing kilts , so it is lovely to have exchanges with lots of people over a day. The comments are usually good natured, funny and friendly, some are deeply curious and meaningful and genuinely want more information, some actually are quite rude, aggressive and even accusatory. On balance it has always been enjoyable even if very tiring and I admit to liking being public, at least for a short time.

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I’m fairly sure that I’ll book again for next year, not so much with the expectation of great sales, but with the idea that outreach is a good thing, and without being too excessive, the idea that showing tartan and kilts is a good thing. Purchasing a kilt is a large expense for most people and it takes time to be certain, so a year later on return visits clients are a little more secure in what they are after, perhaps it’s also reassuring for the customer that I am still around.
It’s a day out in the country away from the sewing room, and that is a very welcome change of scenery. I’m happy and able to do it, so in a very small way I helping keeping a little bit of Scottishness alive in the South of England!

At the start of the day, before the hoards arrived.