Blue or Purple?

[mookien]

For the Silver Thistle tartan, STA has a “picture” at the following url:

http://www.tartansauthority.com/tart...histle-fashion

The corresponding "picture" on the Register shows

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tar....aspx?ref=3789

They both have the same threadcount, but on at least two computers the Register shows the color Oxford as purple and the STA as blue. I know that computer displays only approximate true color, but they are not usually this far off. Will someone please explain the difference? Thanks.

[SlackerDrummer]

Given that there is an Oxford blue (as compared to Cambridge blue) and I am unaware of an Oxford purple, I'm inclined to think it should be blue.

[Paul Henry]

There is no accepted colour code agreement in the world of Tartans, which means that different weavers can choose variations of the colours as long as it is substantially the listed colours in the thread count. It's very interesting to compare the same tartan from different makers, sometimes they are very different. So, the answer is to get a sample from the weaver, and only then base your judgement on the sample infront of you

[freddie]

Sorry, they both look the same to me - blue. Am I missing something?

[mookien]

Gentlefolk: I'll try to illustrate the "problem" using snaps from both web pages. On my computers, the STA picture of the Silver Thistle tartan shown at the first url above looks as follows:



But, the picture of the Silver Thistle on the SRT web pages at the second url above looks like this:



The first should contain blue where the second contains purple. If not, the problem must be on my end. :-)

[Calico]

You are correct that the 2nd looks more purple than the first. But they both look blue, to me.

[Paul Henry]

Here is an example just to show you how the differences can actually look
Maclean of Duart by two different weavers

Look especially at the blue, they are very different, but they are both "blue" and the weavers have chosen the actual blue themselves.
The other colours are much more similar to each other.
both tartans were taken together so that whatever the differences of processing or monitors the differences between the tartans will remain.
The choices of colour balances in tartan is very much a personal/weavers perogative, and it's actually part of the fun(or difficult) side of chosing which cloth to choose!

[mookien]

I'm not interested in the tartan, though I love the look. I'm just not sure which look. ;-)

I simply find it curious, even odd, that two of the premier tartan organizations in the world show the same tartan so differently - apparently beyond any difference one would expect from the imprecision of a digital rendering.

In one, the brightest color in the tartan (Oxford) displays as blue, in the other the same color (Oxford) is shown as purple. Is it (as I infer from paulhenry's comments) that there is no accepted standard (via an RGB mix, for example) for the color Oxford? Or, did one of the orgs. simply make a mistake in its display?

Can anyone out there speak for the House of Edgar from where this tartan allegedly originated? Where is Claire Donaldson when you need her?! :-)

[xman]

... get a sample from the weaver, and only then base your judgement on the sample in front of you

This point cannot be more forcefully stated. Each cloth has its own size, count, colour and feel. They almost smell different as I discovered last year. Here's a thread about it. http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...ng-mail-58866/

[mookien]

xman: Nice thread - lots of good-looking tartan and swatches. Thanks for the pointer.

All: If I were seriously considering the purchase of some Silver Thistle tartan, I would certainly take your advice and request sample(s). But, since I'm not, I would feel uncomfortable asking.

I do like the look of the tartan, though it's tough to find pictures of it. For example, the first two pictures of Silver Thistle tartan in Google Images are the two that I posted earlier - one in blue Oxford and the other in purple Oxford. :-) There are no others.

In fact I could not find the RGB numbers for Oxford. I got on Scotweb's tartan designer and brought up the Silver Thistle tartan. I found an Oxford Blue in their Weaver's chart but they do not show the RGB numbers for those colors. I could not find Oxford in their Pro Color chart, as well, though I may have simply missed it. I also could not find it in any RGB chart on the web. Perhaps it goes by another name.

Anyway, I've beat this horse within an inch of its life, so I'll just poke around and see what I can find out about the color Oxford. If I find anything interesting, I'll post something. If you know, or stumble across something, please let me know. Thanks.