Écharpes et rosaces à carreaux tartan

The right shoulder for most women, pinned at the right and falling diagonally across to the left hip. Clan chiefs, chiefs' wives and women in a few specific roles wear it on the left. Nobody will challenge you either way, but the right shoulder is the conventional answer for a clan member or a guest.

Width and how it is worn. A sash is narrow, goes over one shoulder and is pinned, and it carries formal Highland convention. A shawl or wrap is wider, sits across both shoulders, and carries no convention at all. If the occasion is formal Highland dress, you want the sash.

Formal Highland occasions. Weddings, Highland balls, Burns suppers, St Andrew's Day dinners and clan gatherings. It is not everyday wear and it will read as costume at a casual event. For carrying a family tartan day to day, a scarf does the same job with none of the formality.

Pin through both the sash and the garment underneath, so the weight is carried by the dress rather than by the cloth of the sash itself. That is the single detail that stops it drooping through an evening. Set the pin first, then adjust the fall, since repositioning the pin leaves marks in the weave.

A tartan rosette is a smaller badge worn at games days, gatherings and society events, usually pinned at the shoulder or lapel. It signals a clan or association affiliation at a scale that works in a crowd. Bands, clan societies and competition teams use them to identify members at a glance.

Premium acrylic woven to the sett, with fringed or finished ends depending on the style. Lengths vary, so check the product page, since a sash needs to reach from the shoulder to the opposite hip with enough fall to hang properly. Both faces show the same sett, so there is no wrong side.