The Great Scot tartan vs. Spirit of Scotland tartan?

**shannon** · 18th February 12, 11:15 AM

In my quest to find that perfect purple tartan (say that 3x fast lol), I discovered the Great Scot tartan & it resembles the Spirit of Scotland tartan! Both are from the same mill. What attracts me to this pattern are those 3 purple stripes. It seems that the triple purple stripes on the Great Scot tartan are more vibrant than on the Spirit of Scotland.
IMO the 13oz of "SOS" comparable to the "GS"? The reason I'm concern is I'm using this phone & don't have the capabilities or know how to put them next to each other. I appreciate your opinions.

**rsvpiper** · 18th February 12, 12:22 PM

try getting in touch with either the mill or your chosen kilt maker and order swatches of both then you get to see them in the flesh so to say and compare the colourways

**cable scot** · 18th February 12, 12:44 PM

Ya what he said

A good swatch is always what my grandma used.Or was that a switch?

**xman** · 18th February 12, 12:59 PM

One difference that I notice from the register is that the tartans are not nearly the same size. the Spirit of Scotland tartan is around 11" as registered and the Scotland the Great is about 6". I imagine this will be similar when the mills weave the cloth too.

**shannon** · 18th February 12, 05:21 PM

Confused on tartan size SOS= 11" vs. GS= 6". So does that actually equate to the Great Scot tartan pattern having almost twice the pattern in the same amount of cloth than the SOS tartan which would make the GS pattern seem more pronounced with the triple purple stripes because it actually repeats itself 2x more than the Spirit of Socotland pattern tartan?

**Chas** · 19th February 12, 04:37 AM

Does this help? Both of these are to the same scale.

Great Scot

Fashion tartan from Marton Mills of Yorkshire launched at the 2004 International Gift Fair in Glasgow. 'Designed as a modern multi-purpose tartan that can be worn with pride on any occasion.'

Spirit of Scotland

Designed by Michael King of Philip King Tailoring Ltd, Aberdeen. The design was adopted by the National Trust for Scotland for Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire. Woven by Lochcarron and Strathmore.

Regards

Chas

**shannon** · 19th February 12, 06:47 AM

I really appreciate the side to side comparison between the two tartans!
DECISIONS, DECISIONS !!
I will definitely will need to order swatches in 24" material sizes so I can view each tartan pattern as it would resemble the kilt apron. Hopefully the Great Scot is available in PV... otherwise my choice will be the Spirit of Scotland.

I'm not worried about the extra material because I plan to have a tartan flap sporran & will need to send material to the sporran maker.

(....and you'll never know when another xmts member is in the same situation deciding on this particular tartan)
thank you again for the side to side comparison
shannon

**OC Richard** · 20th February 12, 05:47 AM

It's hard to tell much from those computer-generated diagrams.

As was said, you need to get actual fabric in your hands.

The colours vary so much from mill to mill, and even from the same mill the 13oz and 16oz might have different colouring.

I have swatches of Spirit of Scotland (Lochcarron) in both modern and ancient colours. I carefully adjusted the colours in this photo so that, on my computer screen at least, the colours exactly match the actual cloth:

Here are kilts done in up in both, first in SOS ancient. This is evidently from a different mill, the light blue lines being much more pronounced

and SOS modern

and SOS being worn by a pipe band, pleated to the pairs of light blue lines

Here is a SOS (ancient) kilt, pleated to the block, worn by a judge

I did a lot of looking, trying to decide between SOS ancient or modern. I ended up going with Isle of Skye!!

Sett size is very important to me, in the look of the finished kilt. When I saw this photo of Auld Lang Syne I thought it was very beautiful. In my mind's eye I imagined it woven in a large sett size suitable for a man's kilt (8" or 9")

But the kilts I've seen have used a sett size much smaller, so the kilts have a busy, scattered, dispersed look in my opinion.

Bottom line, I'd like to see photos of Great Scot done up into kilts and being worn.

**shannon** · 20th February 12, 01:30 PM

That's amazing I can't believe a tartan could offer so many variations!!!
What would give me the most PURPLE displayed?
Curious is setting to the triple purple lines even feasible?
I know I'll go with modern colors over ancient to get a vibrant display.
What is setting to the "block"?
Once again absolutely fascinating how one tartan can offer so many possibities to a kilt!!
Sincere thank you in your demostration.
shannon

**California Highlander** · 20th February 12, 01:38 PM

I, too, am interested in purple-based tartans. Spirit of Scotland is probably my pick, with Scotland Forever, Pride of Scotland, Scottish Heritage, Clans of Caledonia, Heart of Scotland, Passion of Scotland, all close behind. Auld Lang Syne seems clunky to me. Haven't checked out Great Scot yet....

As folks have mentioned, the mill, sett size, and the weight change the look. Can't wait to see what you end up with!