Plaid

[Byron]

Dorcas is right - that surely cannot be the only pic in the world of one guy in one particular location and position, wearing a nice pattern but the only such plaid suit that exists anywhere.

Lucas - what is the source ? any clues? from someone's blog or personal
photo album ?

Crail - what Clan tartan applies to your family? - do you think that what we see is genuine or just an artistic invention?

Swimmboy - point to remember - have had that experience on sizing with AgonSwim

[Crail]

Byron, although the name does not sound Scottish it's Oliphant. The plaid shown is an artist's rendition; but extremely close in colors and lay-out. If you do search, it's the dress plaid which is lighter in color than the hunting plaid. OK, enough history, speedos rock.

[Byron]

Tartan looks good on http://www.scotweb.co.uk/tartan/Olip...-or-Clan/31883

If you wish to pursue it AgonSwim can help (je.escalas@gmail.com)

[Torchwatch]

In reply to Dorcas "I see no reason why speedos have to be a boring one color unless it.s white or yellow with a reat tan,!"

To make a boring one colour suit the mill sets up a power loom running with pre-dyed lycra thread and runs it continuously, stopping only to replace thread reels.

To make a plaid or tartan fabric, coloured threads are placed on a loom and a "program" run to send across the correct colour shuttles in the right order. I don't know of anyone who has actually produced plain or tartan lycra by this method.

Patterned lycra is usually made by printing on white lycra fabric made on a power loom as above. Rollers for each colour to be used have the pattern cut into them and run continuously as the fabric passes beneath it.

Multicoloured lycra swimwear can be made by stitching sections of different coloured lycra together. The Speedo did this with hip flashes on their nylon suits before they went over to lycra but dropped the idea in favour of printed suits for added colour. The Japanese have been doing coloured section suits recently. The problem with making these suits is to correctly stretch the fabric at the time that it is sewn. If the fabric is not stretched correctly the seam will be too loose or too tight when the suit is worn making it look wrong. The multi colour section suit takes skill and time to make and is liable to be expensive.

To add colour and interest to a plain suit, silk screen printing and "stretch inks" can be used. Acetate transparencies can be printed on a bubblejet printer then burned onto the screen using photosensitive emulsions. It produces a stencil effect and is an area that I want to experiment with.

[dorcas3]

Great info-I have a number of pairs of Sporti brand-they are cheap. One color or mix of colors that I wear a great deal is green-yellow-black mixture that I am often complimented of. A lifeguard said he liked the colors (his and my college ones) so I bought him one and left it in the office. They are so reasonably priced that you don't mind giving them away especially if they are appreciated. These are square cuts which I realise that avid speedo wearers would not care for-there are times when you have been pool swimming a great deal that you'd like to give your crotch are a little rest and thats why are wear square cuts from time to time-very sensitive area for me. Thanks again for great info on manufacturing details.

[Byron]

.....that makes it even more frustrating as Dorcas gives just the color combination which is Gordon and which I am sure would look good.

However, I guess that to create a wearable suit of a multi-color pattern embedded in a stretch fabric cannot be easy, as usefully explained by Torchwatch for what we seek.

[SwimTeamSpeedo]

The good news is, while not plaid, print style suits are making a comeback. A few years ago, solids and splice suits were all one could find in the competitive swim brands (Speedo, Arena, Tyr, Nike, etc). I am glad to see the increase in bold print suits with some real flash to them. Funky Trunks gets the top prize here for bold patterns, and their new briefs have a great fit, too. Maybe they could be convinced to do a plaid.

[Abbyguy]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370589455009...9#ht_500wt_922
Just bought this off of eBay. Will post pics once I receive.

[Byron]

Excellent - well spotted.
Low price for BNWT Speedo and seller already put up a good pic.
Not a true plaid but I like the colors and pattern anyway.
(a customised tartan would cost $61 with AgonSwim)

[Torchwatch]

Looked at the sellers list of products including Speedo padded triathlon briefs in different colours. Although some of the items are in the current Sports Direct catalogue others seem either to have been specially made or are from historic sources.

Have been looking at internet printed lycra and spandex suppliers, have discovered a wide variety of plaid and tartan printed stretch fabrics for sale. Although some are available in the UK many more can be bought in the USA.
These printed fabrics tend to be ordered by the clothing makers who after making a production run sell off 2nds, part rolls and surplus rolls to the fabric stores.
The cost of setting up a print run is such that only big clothing manufacturers can order the quantities involved. The same set up is often used with different colours to produce smaller quantities of a range of colours.

By largely pulling out of printed fabrics swim brief manufacturers have reduced their commitment to stocking large quantities of printed fabrics slow to move.

It is fun to go through the internet fabric stores, find an interesting printed lycra, order some and make an entirely unique swim brief, thong etc.