Houndstooth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Houndstooth or houndstooth check is a duotone textile pattern, characterized by broken checks or abstract four-pointed shapes.
Houndstooth checks originated in woven wool cloth of the Scottish Lowlands,[1] but are now used in many other materials. The traditional houndstooth check is made with alternating bands of four dark and four light threads in both warp and weft woven in a simple 2:2 twill, two over - two under the warp, advancing one thread each pass.[2]
Variants of the houndstooth check include the Glen Plaid (short for Glenurquhart Plaid), a variant with alternating blocks of 2-on-2 and 4-on-4 colouring, and the Prince of Wales check, with an over-check in a bright or contrasting color,[3] popularized by Edward VIII when Prince of Wales.
The pattern made a frequent appearance on fabrics designed in the 1930s through to the 1970s.
Legendary former University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant made this pattern popular by wearing his trademark Houndstooth hat on the sidelines of every game he coached. Pee-Wee Herman is famous for his light grey Glen Plaid suit. Ian Fleming's novels also describe James Bond as wearing a black and white houndstooth suit with dark blue shirt and black silk knit tie.
Houndstooth is commonly used for suiting, especially jackets/blazers. It is also referred to as "guncheck" or "dog-tooth".
It is also the motif for the Australian department store chain David Jones Limited.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Dunbar, John Telfer: The Costume of Scotland, London: Batsford, 1984, ISBN 0-7134-2534-2 1984 (paperback 1989, ISBN 0-7134-2535-0)
- ^ Online Textiles Dictionary, entry "check", retrieved 16 June 2007
- ^ Online Textiles Dictionary, entry "check", retrieved 16 June 2007
