Your opinion, please...

[davidlpope]

City of Washington uses the Black Stewart for their band kilts. The pics below are taken from their homepage. Gives you an idea of what it might look like.

Cordially,
David

[Casper]

Well as my Mother is a Stewart, and I own a Black Stewart I may be admittedly just a wee bit biased, but I really do like the look of the Black Stewart. However as this is for band wear, I may go with the Clergy Blue as pictured in the above post.

I'm in the same boat. Me ma's a Stewart, and I own the Black Stewart. That, and i'm not religous... so, its a trifecta of biased-ness....

[gilmore]

Hi, thanks for your opinions, guys!
CCGA3359, the Clark/Clergy I'm looking at is the second one on your list...in person, it actually looks a lot like the first one on your list, but the blue is darker. It would be for band wear.
Thanks again!

My understanding is that the clergy tartan is by custom worn only by members of the clergy.

[Riverkilt]

I have a black Stewart, like it, though its a bit busy with all the colors. There's a recent thread showing all the different ways it can be pleated for different effects.

I've held off on the Clark tartan, have some distant Clark blood...it is sooooo busy looking...hard to focus on for me...unless its just the confusion a busy tartan causes a digital camera. Don't think I've seen one in person yet.

How/why'd you narrow your choices down to these two? Whats up?

Ron

[Arizona Scot]

Well if I may inject my two cents worth the black Stewart is a wonderful tartan but I also like the Clark/Clergy if having to chose between the two I would have to go with the Clergy.

[MacWage]

Clark


Clergy Blue


Clergy Green


Black Stewart


Sister, I am not overly familiar with the Clark and Clergy tartan so my mini research found the above three. What is the tartan for is for the band? If so I think I like the Clark.

Sister,

There are so many Clergy/Clark tartans. In addition to the three above, there are purple, several modern in bright colors and others.

For me, it's not the colors but what the tartan represents.

Hi, thanks for your opinions, guys!
CCGA3359, the Clark/Clergy I'm looking at is the second one on your list...in person, it actually looks a lot like the first one on your list, but the blue is darker. It would be for band wear.
Thanks again!

The Clark and all the "variations" of Clergy are really the SAME tartan, or more misinterpretations of the same tartan. Matt Newsome has a good article on the matter:
http://albanach.org/clergy_tartan.htm
The "original" by Wilson and Sons of Bannockburn (1830) was in black, lavender, and light blue, and was called "Priest" (we don't know why). James Logan's "The Scottish Gael" changed it to "white and gray, and one pivot was different." Then, "The Authenticated Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland" (1850) by William and Andrew Smith attempted to reproduce the tartan as given by Logan, but with Wilsons’ coloration. Matt says:
"However, there were problems with the production methods. Sometimes lavender was mistakenly used for stripes that should have been black. And the light blue in some copies of the book turned out a green-gray. Variations occurred from one edition to the next, and sometimes between copies of the same edition. If anyone wonders why there are often different versions of the same tartan in circulation, this sort of occurrence is usually to blame!"
Then: " The Clergy tartan was next illustrated by James Grant in 1886, in The Tartans of the Clans and Septs of Scotland. He used blue in place of lavender, including for two lines that should have been black, (apparently copying the error from one of the Smiths' books). In his text, however, he says that the tartan was white, black and grey. This would indicate that he intended to illustrate the tartan from Logan's work, but the publisher substituted a different illustration. In later editions of his book, the text described the tartan as dark blue, light blue, and black, but in the illustration this time light blue was rendered as green!
Lastly, in the first edition of The Setts of the Scottish Tartans, D. C. Stewart attempted to make a compromise between Wilsons’ and Logan's settings. This had the undesired effect of creating yet another variation. In later editions this was amended."

So, the variations are more of a compilation of mistakes.

The main one that concerns most is the modern distinction between Clark and Clergy. Most mills make the "Clark" using heavy whites and a brighter blue, while "Clergy" uses ANY colors BUT WHITE for the thin stripes (light blue is the most common, but I've seen gray, purple, and green). Now, that distinction is really false, as they are, at their core, the SAME tartan.

My understanding is that the clergy tartan is by custom worn only by members of the clergy.

As the Clark (family tartan) and Clergy (professional tartan) are really the same tartan, that is only partially true.
The "Clark" lighter version is more commonly used by those of the Clark surname and any one connected that way.
The darker ones have a STRONG "Christian Clergy" association that many shy away from it, even Clarks, and feel that you MUST be ORDAINED clergy to wear it. Also, while not explicitly "Christian" in usage, it has a strong association with such that some non-Christian clergy I have talked to shy away from it, as they say it has TOO STRONG of a Christian association.
So, many who see a person in a dark version of the tartan will ASSUME they are looking at a Christian clergy person.
Now whether that is correct or not is open for much debate, but that is how MANY will see it.

Now, as the original poster looking at the tartans is pipesndrumsnun, who is (as I recall) a NUN, that isn't an issue.

So, between Clergy and Black Stewart . . .
I like both, but it gets down to whether you would prefer a rather "blue" tartan or a "red" hued one.
I LIKE Clergy a lot, so I would get that one. However, if you don't want to proclaim "clergy" or LOVE the red, get Black Stewart.

[Mark Keeney]

I don't have either but I like the Black Stewart better because the colors against the black background give the tartan more depth. It looks 3 dimensional.

[Rampant Lion]

I prefer the look of the Clergy Tartan. The Black Stewart I really don't like at all.

[Panache]

Sister,

Both are handsome. Personally I think that the Clark/Clergy is the nicer and the less commonly seen of the two.

Cheers

Jamie

[pipesndrumsnun]

Thanks, guys!
Originally, we thought everyone wearing their own kilt would be OK, but most folks here on X-Marks voted in the negative toward that suggestion, and I look to you guys as my experts! Next...
The narrowing to these final two choices was because I made a diagram of nice looking kilts that we could get at a reasonable price: all of the Stillwater Standard kilts and some of the Frugal Corner's tartan choices.
I then did an unscientific survey of my friends and family. The results were the top four choices ended up as: Black Stewart, Clergy, Irish National, and Night Stalker. Then, another survey insued: Black Stewart and Clergy were the most frequently chosen (with the rationale that Scots might not want to wear Irish National, and that Night Stalker was too dark...I actually think Night Stalker is kind of cool, personally!).
Next, between Black Stewart and Clergy, one person loves one and another loves the other (I like them both).
So, I bring these two choices back to the experts for suggestion!
Now...another development...would/could people get there own kilt (they'd have to), should we let them wear whatever they want/whatever they have, etc. We are somewhat back at stage one all over again in regards to clothing. Where's my Tylenol (just kidding!)?
Our little band of pipers and drummers (see Scotia's posts) is up to four people now!