Under $108 the edit is mostly small Barbour pieces and light knitwear, and it is the cheapest tier in any of these shops. The Aqua Plaid Mesh Sleeveless Top at $54 is the cheapest item. Barbour appears three times, the Heidi Tartan Bucket Hat at $60, the Kirklees Tartan Shawl at $70 and the Hailes Tartan Scarf at $75, which between them cover every way of adding tartan without committing to a garment. On knitwear, Edikted's Argyle Oversized Polo Sweater at $57, Lucy Paris' Bria Argyle Sweater Top at $78 and the 525 America Windsor Argyle Cardigan at $99 are three genuinely different argyle shapes for under $100. Avec Les Filles' Plaid Wrap Micro Skort at $108 closes the bracket. This is the tier to shop if you want the pattern without rebuilding a wardrobe.

Between $120 and $398 the pieces get heavier and better made. Barbour's Blair Tartan Serape at $120 is the last accessory in the edit. BlankNYC's Plaid Cord Collar Barn Jacket at $169 is the cheapest outerwear here. The knitwear steps up considerably: Guest in Residence's Cashmere Shrunken Checker Crew Top at $325 and Jane Cashmere Checker Cardigan at $365 are both real cashmere in a check, which is a harder thing to find than plain. Vince accounts for three of the eight, the Ombre Plaid Cowl Neck Silk Top at $328, the Niki Mid Rise Plaid Pants at $398 and the Plaid Ombre Slip Skirt at $398, and the ombre treatment on all three is what stops them reading as costume. Polo Ralph Lauren's Plaid Tweed Fitted Yoke Skirt at $398 is the most traditional piece.

Above $448 the edit narrows to four pieces and they are the most substantial things in it. Favorite Daughter's Dean Plaid Blazer at $448 is the only blazer in the edit and the piece that does the most to make the pattern look deliberate rather than seasonal. Guest in Residence's Wool Cashmere Tartan Wrap Skirt at $495 is the heaviest bottom here. The two sweaters close it out: By Malene Birger's Johanna Wool Argyle Crewneck at $530 and A.L.C.'s Lennon Wool-Cashmere Argyle at $595, which is the most expensive piece in the edit. Both are proper argyle rather than a print, meaning the pattern is knitted in, and that is the difference you are paying for at this level. A knitted argyle holds its shape and its colour far longer than a printed one.

Pattern is the fastest thing in a wardrobe to date itself, which makes the cheap end of this edit unusually sensible. A $60 tartan bucket hat and a $75 scarf let you wear the trend for a season and feel nothing when you stop. Where spending is genuinely justified is the knitwear, because a knitted-in argyle from A.L.C. or By Malene Birger is a different object from a printed one and will still look right in several years. The Favorite Daughter plaid blazer at $448 is the one piece here that would work in an office. What we would avoid is the middle-priced printed pieces, which cost real money and age fastest. If you take one thing away, buy the pattern knitted in or buy it cheap.