Houndstooth: Who Does It Suit and How to Wear It?

From two metres away you see a calm, cool grey. From half a metre it breaks into hundreds of black and white teeth. Houndstooth is a fine two colour weave shaped like a broken check, and its power comes from that difference between the near view and the far one.

What is houndstooth and where does the name come from?

Houndstooth is a woven pattern in which two colours interlace in a rhythm of four threads, forming squares with hooks projecting from the corners. English names it after a dog's tooth, French after a hen's foot, and both describe the same shape seen from a different distance.

The pattern was born in the Scottish Lowlands, where it was woven from undyed wool for shepherds' coats. It moved into city wardrobes in the 1920s and has returned cyclically ever since, usually in the same three categories: outerwear, jackets and skirts. Contemporary versions have gone beyond black and white, so you will find houndstooth today in beige with brown, navy with ecru, or bottle green with cream.

The rhythm of the weave also does something a product photograph never shows. In diffused light houndstooth looks like a single cool patch of colour, while in strong sun and in movement it starts to shimmer, because the edges of the teeth split the reflection into two values of brightness.

Who does houndstooth suit?

Houndstooth suits every figure on one condition: the scale of the pattern has to match the size of the surface carrying it. It is not about height or size, but about the proportion of a single tooth to the piece it covers.

The table below turns that principle into specific measurements.

The two extreme rows show where mistakes are made most often. Micro houndstooth on a knee length coat merges into a grey patch from a distance and loses the very thing you chose it for. A large pattern on a shirt does the opposite: the teeth are so pronounced that they take all the attention and anything you add beside them stops being visible.

Does houndstooth add width?

Houndstooth does not add width as long as you keep to the fine and medium scales, because the dense rhythm of two colours blurs the outline and scatters the eye instead of holding it. The effect is the opposite of a large check, where the lines form a grid and mark out width.

The risk appears in two variants. A pattern with a side above two centimetres creates a visible structure that curves over a rounded surface and emphasises volume. The second risk is a matching set in the same fabric from shoulder to ankle, because a continuous patterned surface reads as one large mass. The safer version is one houndstooth piece with plain trousers or a plain skirt as a counterweight.

Which houndstooth pieces are worth starting with?

For a first houndstooth purchase choose outerwear or a jacket, because both are worn open and the pattern never covers the whole silhouette at once.

• A knee length coat. The largest patterned surface you can wear safely, because the opening at the front divides it in two.
• A jacket. It enters a look with a plain bottom half and returns to it for years, whatever happens to shapes. Look through blazers in the fine scale.
• A pencil skirt. Pattern on a small surface, so it carries even a medium scale, and the top half stays free for anything plain.
• A scarf. The version for anyone testing the pattern for the first time, because near the face micro houndstooth is enough.

A houndstooth jacket needs a plain layer underneath first. A white or cream shirt in smooth cotton is the starting point, and across shirts the ones without quilting or pronounced texture work best. A second layer can be a simple top or a fine roll neck, as long as the colour is taken from the lighter of the two shades in the weave.

Which colours go with houndstooth?

Every plain colour goes with houndstooth and only plain colours do, because the pattern is already made of two values. The safest are the colours taken directly from the weave, meaning white, ecru and black in the classic version.

Three directions give different results with the same piece. Beige, cream and pale grey lower the contrast and move the whole look towards the quiet end, which suits an office. Red, burgundy and rust raise the temperature and work as a single accent in a piece from bags or a shoe, never in two places at once. Navy and bottle green are the middle answer, because they are as dark as black but they bring colour with them.

How do you recognise well woven houndstooth?

The quality of houndstooth shows in the sharpness of the tooth edge, because that is what decides whether the pattern stays readable after a dozen washes. In a woven fabric the edge is hard and clear on both sides of the cloth. In a print it blurs as soon as you look at it from an angle.

Check three things before buying. Look at the reverse of the fabric: in a true weave the pattern is visible from underneath too, only with the colours swapped. Stretch the cloth gently across the grain and see whether the teeth distort, because a loose weave deforms the pattern the first time you sit down. Finally look at the seam lines: in a well cut piece the pattern matches on both sides of the side seam and on the lapels, and a shift of more than one tooth means the maker was saving on fabric.

Composition matters less here than construction. Loosely woven wool houndstooth will distort faster than a well made polyester blend, even though it feels better to the hand. If you are choosing between two models at a similar price, check the weight: fabric below 250 grams per square metre will not hold the structure of a jacket through a season and will start to crease at the elbows and across the seat.

What not to pair with houndstooth

Houndstooth competes with every other pattern in a look, so most mistakes come from adding a second one.

• Do not pair houndstooth with tartan or with stripes, because both patterns have a clear rhythm and the eye finds no point to rest on.
• Avoid combining houndstooth with a shiny fabric over a large area, because satin reflects light in points and kills the subtle shimmer of the weave.
• Never wear two houndstooth pieces of different scale in one look, because two rhythms in the same pattern read as a mistake rather than an intention.
• Do not add accessories with pronounced texture, such as a heavy cable knit or embossed leather, because a fine pattern disappears beside them.

How do you wear houndstooth day to day and at the office?

Houndstooth changes register through what sits underneath and below it rather than through the patterned piece itself. The same jacket handles both contexts.

For the everyday version, build on a contrast of materials. A houndstooth jacket over a plain T shirt and a piece from denim with a raw finish creates a look in which the pattern is the only formal element. At the office, swap denim for pressed trousers or a pencil skirt and the T shirt for a shirt, and the same jacket reads as a complete look.

In the evening the reverse arrangement works best: a plain midi from dresses in a single colour, with houndstooth only in the outer layer. If you prefer the pattern nearer the face, look for it in a fine scale and leave the rest of the look plain.

How does houndstooth differ from Prince of Wales check?

Houndstooth consists of a single repeating tooth at one size, while Prince of Wales check combines two different scales, one fine and one larger, laid over each other. In practice that means Prince of Wales check has visible lines forming large squares, and houndstooth has none at all.

Can houndstooth be worn in summer?

It can, provided the pattern is woven in linen, cotton or fine viscose rather than wool. In summer it looks best in beige and white or ecru with light brown, because the contrast of black and white in full sun can be too sharp. Underneath, choose plain pieces from t-shirts and tops without prints.

How do you press houndstooth?

Press through a damp cotton cloth, at the temperature assigned to the composition, and always from the lining side if the piece has one. Direct contact between a hot plate and wool houndstooth smooths the weave and makes the pattern lose its depth exactly where it was pressed.

How many houndstooth pieces are worth owning?

One, at most two with different purposes, for example outerwear and a jacket. The pattern is recognisable enough that a third starts repeating itself in photographs and in the memory of people who see you.

Come back to those two metres from the beginning. Houndstooth is the only pattern that behaves like a colour from a distance and like a pattern up close, which is why it carries pairings no other check could. Start with one piece in the fine scale and see how it behaves in your light before you add a second.