Knowing next to nothing about pleating, and simply talking aesthetics of the kilt front panels when being worn, I'll say that most tartans nowadays feel too small to me. I love the big 'manly' setts seen on Army kilts. However for my eye Duncan MacPherson's sett is too big.
There's a thing in design where it behooves you to 'respect the format' in other words have things at an appropriate scale for the given format. For a kilt's tartan the format is the size of the upper front panel. There's a certain sett size that fits the format best, to my eye.
What's interesting about The Highlanders of Scotland is that you can see sett sizes all over the map, from enormous to tiny. It evidently isn't as settled as it is now, amongst weavers.
I've never seen heavyweight kilting cloth in that MacDonald on the left with a sett that small, and it looks far too small to me; I don't think I've ever seen that MacDonald on the right with a sett quite that big, but it looks 'just right' to me
Here's the sett on the left, as woven for kilts nowadays
Last edited by OC Richard; 16th April 14 at 08:05 PM.
Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte
Bookmarks