Check Patterns : Styling Tips & Types Explained
How to Wear Checks
There are huge variations of checks available with various widths, colours and spacings. It’s a look that you can wear from work through to the weekend and beyond. There are some easy and most effective examples of how to wear checks:
With strong checks, keep the rest of your attire muted and clean while with less obvious checks in grey and light brown cloths, a bold pair can make a big statement.
When pairing checks, stick to the same colour family for each piece for a statement that isn’t too loud.
Adding a pop-up colour to your check combination makes the pattern more visible and injects some colour to an otherwise neutral ensemble.
The simplest and most effective way to wear a check is to go bold with a statement coat or piece of outerwear. Beautifully tailored Prince of Wales check, single or double-breasted coat is flattering, warm and completely on-trend. Style it out with ankle boots and jeans for a relaxed look or pencil skirts, shirts and heels for a formal look.
A checked sport coat is a key item to having a well-stocked closet. They pair beautifully with solid trousers, cotton chinos, or denim.
Pair your check trousers with a secondary colour from the check and use that with block-colour knitwear or a shirt on your upper half for a harmonious look. If trousers aren’t your thing, opt for checked midi skirts. It’ll give the simplest of jumpers a ladylike spin, you can combine them with a pair of ankle boots.
A checked suit makes for an incredibly bold look. You can complete them with solid colour overcoats or accessories with the same tonal of your check pattern.
Checked shirts have been around for generations and they are one of the easiest ways to put some pattern into your life. Wear them with faded jeans and/or a T-shirt for a retro-inspired look.
A check blazer, which can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. If there are other colours in the blazer, pick one of those out for your trouser colour. Style a checked blazer with a pair of flare-legged or boyfriend jeans for a timeless casual look.
When it comes to all an all-over print, like wearing a check shift dress, pair them with a little denim jacket and stylish black sock boots or cowboy boots.
Types of Checks
Madras
Uneven checks are formed by bands of vibrant colours with varying thicknesses crossing each other.
Pin
One or two yarns thick pin-sized stripes crossing each other to form small checks which look like dots from a distance.
Plaid
Colourful stripes with different widths crisscross each other to form symmetrically placed checks. The pattern of the vertical stripe does not necessarily have to match the pattern of the horizontal stripe.
Tartan
Similar to Plaid. The pattern of the stripes running vertically is duplicated EXACTLY on the horizontal axis. Where the different colours overlap, new colours are created.
Dupplin
Formed by a combination of simple checks, usually dog’s tooth and windowpane checks.
Gingham
Regular bright coloured checks are made by overlapping stripes of the colour of the same width combined with white thread.
Glen/Prince of wales
A combination of large and small checks creates a pattern of irregular checks.
Graph
Evenly shaped checks formed by thin bands of a single colour on white background look just like a graph paper.
Shepherd
Similar to gingham checks, small, even-sized checks of two colours which are usually black and white.
Tattersall
Regularly spaced, small checks made on white background by thin, evenly coloured bands.
Gun Club
Alternating bands in two or more colours intersect on a light background creating checks.
Windowpane
Thin, light-coloured bands form checks on a contrasting solid-coloured background which resemble window panes.
Harlequin
Repeating pattern of contracting diamonds. There is a tiny dot where the diamonds meet.
Mini
Small even-sized checks on a solid colour sized between the Pin check and the Gingham check.
Argyle
Diagonally arranged diamond or lozenges shapes consist of two to three different colours. Mostly used on knitted fabrics.
Buffalo
Big squares are formed by the intersection of two different coloured yarns, usually red and black.
Checkerboard
Equal sized checks of two different colours as you see on the checkerboard game-board.
Dog’s tooth/ Hound’s tooth
Formed by broken or uneven checks or abstract four-pointed shapes that resemble a dog’s tooth.
