Everywhere you look, sartorial tastemakers are wearing gingham. On and off the catwalk, the fabric is being interpreted and reinterpreted, appearing in a multitude of different styles and combinations. In 2015, some of the biggest names in fashion, including Diane von Furstenberg, Altuzarra and Michael Kors sent models down the catwalk in a diverse range of gingham outfits, from skirts and dresses to finely tailored suits.
At street level, style influencers like Olivia Palermo, Atlanta de Cadenet and Alexa Chung have all been spied wearing the geometric material.
Gingham style has a long and mysterious history it’s not even certain where the word ‘gingham’ actually comes from. What we do know, however, is that choosing the best gingham dress is all about deciding what you want it to say. Here’s a look back at some iconic gingham looks through the ages, and the best ways men and women can welcome the refreshed classic cloth into their wardrobes this season.
Beginnings: somewhere over the rainbow
The origins of gingham style are murky. Indeed, no one is really sure where gingham came from or even how it came to be called gingham! It could derive from the Malay word ganggang, meaning ‘ajar' or 'separate’, or perhaps from Guingamp, a town in Brittany, France, where the fabric was made. Gingham as we know it today, however, came from 18th century England, where it was woven and dyed into its now-distinctive check pattern.
The most iconic early gingham outfits came from the New World. Still the most famous today is undoubtedly Judy Garland’s gingham pinafore ensemble from The Wizard of Oz. Though gingham has irrefutably moved on from its conservative and cutesy heritage as worn by Garland, this classic outfit remains influential. In 2015, Vogue featured a Gingham Girl style editorial: a full silhouette Sea-style gingham dress, paired with – what else – but sparkly red Valentino slippers. Without objection, there must be something quite special about a fabric that can make the 1930s.
The Bardot and Birkin revolution
Garland might have unwittingly secured the gingham dress’ future as a homey and conservative article had it not been for the efforts of fashion radicals Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin. Approaching the mid-century, gingham was a staid and domestic look until Bardot brazenly altered the fabric’s fortunes by choosing it as her wedding dress for her 1959 marriage to Jacques Charrier. Although the dress retained the full, cutesy cut – complete with the brocade hem popular at the time, Bardot’s wearing of the dress for her controversial second wedding (her first having lasted a mere five months), anointed the outfit with an ironic expression of the sexual liberty that Bardot would come to symbolise. Bardot just goes to show how much can be said with a classic cut – like Comme Des Garçons Girl's Peter Pan collar shirts – if worn with panache. Men needn't be exempt from the action, though – for inspiration, Paul Smith's SS16 presentation featuring gingham shirts layered with light suiting is an excellent place to begin.
If Brigitte Bardot used irony to claim wholesome gingham for the sexual revolution, model Jane Birkin’s gingham style overlooked irony altogether and came right out and said what everyone was thinking. In the 1968 film La Piscine, Birkin was filmed padding round a luxurious swimming pool on the Cotê d’Azur in a notoriously short gingham dress. This ironic juxtaposition of an innocent fabric with a sensual or revealing cut is still very much part of the gingham conversation. Marc Jacobs’ gingham dresses play with alluring plunging necklines and fitted cuts – perfect, it must be said, for the warm Australian climate. For the men, it's less complicated than intermingling coy and sultry (phew!) and more about experimenting with the fabric. Consider taking to the water in a pair of Orlebar Brown gingham board shorts, perhaps.
2015: Gingham style
2015 heralded the recent revival of gingham, with designers Diane von Fürstenburg, Altuzarra and Michael Kors showcasing gingham designs and placing the cloth at the forefront of the fashion conversation. The fabric’s stylistic plasticity was on full display as designers forewent the classic gingham dress for gingham shirts, skirts, jackets and even suits.
However, true to modern form, the most exciting action was happening off the catwalk with street style favourites Olivia Palermo, Atlanta de Cadenet and Alexa Chung all repping innovative gingham looks by wearing the cloth as a pant. Kirsten Dunst, Kiernan Shipka and Rihanna all sported exciting gingham looks and proved the gingham dress is still full of life. Labels like Alexander Wang eschew the preference for traditionally cut gingham dresses in favour of pencil styles with keyhole split detailing. The guys can take a similarly experimental route by turning to Etro, who now offer up men's gingham shirts in both bold multicolour formats and subtler combinations like blue and white.
Before the 1950s, choosing the best gingham dress was a rather one-dimensional exercise. Here and now, however, that is no longer the case. After several 20th century style revelations, gingham has broken free of the confines of even the dress itself — exploding into shirts, skirts, suits and more. Right from the beginning impossible to define, the gingham of the 21st century will continue to defy expectations.