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A humble Indian fabric became a symbol of luxury in 1960s America
- swayvil 2y agoMadras, plaid, tartan. I can't tell the difference. It's a testament to the power of marketing. Aquatic cockroaches became haute cuisine. Digital clockworks became the world. Like the magicians of yore said, "theater is everything".
- senthil_rajasek 2y agoI can tell Madras or not Madras easily but not so much plaid or tartan. Disclaimer: I am from the region and know the pattern very well.BTW Madras is also the British name for the city of Chennai.
- cher_guevara 2y agoWhat a dismissive, reductive take. The article explains at depth what made the madras fabric different than other plaids. Just because you don’t have enough interest or experience in looking at fabrics to be able to distinguish between them, doesn’t mean those differences don’t exist. I for one found it fascinating and would like to see washdown swatch or panel samples comparing it new vs after 1, 2, washes and beyond. I also appreciated the clever marketing pivot after complaints popped up.
- n3storm 2y agoBeing niche is too mainstream nowadays XD
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- Ar-Curunir 2y agoThey are very different fabrics, namely that tartan is made from wool, while Madras from cotton. https://www.putthison.com/q-and-answer-whats-the-difference-between-plaid/ https://www.putthison.com/q-and-answer-whats-the-difference-...
- vundercind 2y ago> Some say it was inspired by Scottish tartans, though it differs in several important ways (madras features neither the black lines nor the two-by-two weave of tartan, and is made of cotton, not wool). > woven using lightweight 60-count yarn for the warp (thread held in place on the loom) and slightly heavier 40-count yarn for the weft (thread woven horizontally through the warp) before being dyed. The natural dyes were made from laterites, indigo blue, turmeric and local sesame seed oil, all of which gave the cloth a distinctive scent. > But the most exciting quality Nair pitched to Jacobson, Karkaria said, was the fabric’s weakness-as-strength — it would bleed with every wash, creating a new kind of check and a “new” garment.
- crazygringo 2y agoThat's like saying JavaScript, C++, Go -- I can't tell the difference. OK great, so why don't you go learn it instead of dismissing it? It has nothing to do with marketing. Madras and tartan come from totally different parts of the world. They're completely different fabrics with totally different origins. (The relationship between plaid and tartan is a little more complicated.)
- mateus1 2y agoBeer, water, urine. I drink them all, I can’t tell the difference.
- card_zero 2y agoIt all comes under the umbrella term "Budweiser".
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