Quote Originally Posted by vegan_scot View Post

I'm curious if there's any real difference of utility (thread count, textile, etc) or aesthetic which would separate "plaid" from tartan as well.
Here in the USA, most "plaid" fabric is cotton (woven or flannel). A lot is polyester too. The cotton plaids are frequently died patterns, not woven patterns. Synthetics don't generally take dye, so they'd need to be woven in.

My mom was seriously into sewing, and I spent a lot of time in the fabric section while growing up.

Another subset of plaid fabric is Madras, which is always lightweight cotton, and you would never mistake it for tartan .

http://www.google.com/images?q=madras+fabric