Houndstooth pattern: what it is and how to wear it

What houndstooth is and how it is woven

Houndstooth is a check pattern made of broken, four pointed shapes, each with little hooks or teeth at the corners, repeating in rows. Look closely and you will see solid squares of one color alternating with squares made of diagonal stripes. The pointed teeth are where those diagonals poke into the neighboring square.

The effect comes from the weave rather than printing. The classic cloth uses bands of four dark and four light threads in both directions, the warp and the weft, woven in a 2/2 twill, where each thread passes over two and under two and the pattern steps across by one thread each row. That combination of color order and twill produces the teeth. Because the pattern is part of the cloth's structure, it also shows on the back of a woven houndstooth. If you are new to twills, our explainer on twill fabric shows how the diagonal forms.

You will also find printed houndstooth on cotton, silk and synthetics, and knitted versions on sweaters. They can look good, but they are a picture of the pattern rather than the woven original, so the points are often flatter and the back of the fabric is plain. For a jacket or coat you want to keep for years, woven houndstooth in wool is the traditional choice.

Houndstooth meaning and history

The name simply describes the shape: the broken check looks like a row of a dog's pointed teeth. In Britain it is often called dogtooth or dogstooth, and the words mean the same pattern. Curiously, the term houndstooth is not recorded before the 1930s, although the pattern itself is far older.

Checks with this structure appear in ancient textiles, including a Swedish cloak dated to between roughly 360 and 100 BCE. The version we know is generally traced to woolen tweeds of the Scottish Lowlands, where a larger two color check worn by shepherds became known as the shepherd's check. It suited country life: the broken pattern hides dirt and blends into moorland, and heavy wool twill is warm and hard wearing.

In the twentieth century houndstooth moved into fashion. Christian Dior used it in tailored suits and made it part of the house's visual identity, and it has since become a regular runway pattern in both black and white and bright colors. In the United States it is closely tied to the University of Alabama, because the football coach Bear Bryant wore a black and white houndstooth hat on the sidelines.

Sizes of houndstooth, and how it differs from herringbone and glen plaid

Houndstooth comes in several scales. Puppytooth is the tiny version, small enough to read as texture from a few feet away and common on shirts and trousers. Standard houndstooth, with checks roughly the size of a fingernail, is the usual scale for jackets and skirts. Larger versions, sometimes sold as shepherd's check or oversized houndstooth, make a bold statement on coats. The smaller the check, the more easily it behaves like a solid color in an outfit.

People often confuse houndstooth with herringbone because both are woven twills and both appear on tweed. The difference is the shape. Herringbone is a column of V shaped zigzags, like a fish skeleton, and it usually looks like texture in a single color family; our guide to the herringbone pattern explains how it is woven. Houndstooth is a check made of pointed shapes in two contrasting colors.

Glen plaid, also called glen check or Prince of Wales check, is a larger plaid built partly from small houndstooth blocks alternating with fine stripes. If you see little teeth arranged into bigger boxes, you are looking at a glen check. Because the two share a building block, wearing a glen plaid suit with a houndstooth tie tends to look busy rather than coordinated.

How to wear houndstooth

The simplest rule is one houndstooth piece per outfit, with everything else in solid colors taken from the pattern. A black and white houndstooth reads as gray from a distance, so it pairs easily with black, white, gray, navy and camel, and a single bright accent such as red. Brown and cream houndstooth sits with browns, olive, cream and denim.

For men, a houndstooth jacket is the most useful piece. Wear a wool houndstooth sport coat with gray flannel trousers or dark jeans, a white or light blue shirt, and brown shoes; our guide to business casual for men shows where that sits at work. A solid knit tie or no tie keeps the pattern in charge. A houndstooth blazer for men in a small scale can also go with chinos and a crew neck sweater in cooler weather.

For women, a houndstooth blazer over a black turtleneck and straight trousers or jeans is a classic combination, and a houndstooth coat over all black is striking without trying hard. A pencil or A line skirt in houndstooth works with a plain knit and boots. A houndstooth dress is best in a simple cut, such as a shift or sheath, so the shape and the pattern are not competing.

To mix houndstooth with another pattern, change the scale and type. A small houndstooth jacket with a bold striped shirt, or a large houndstooth coat with a fine polka dot scarf, can work because the eye reads them as different textures. Two checks of the same size almost always clash.

When to wear houndstooth

Traditional houndstooth is a woolen autumn and winter pattern, and most houndstooth jackets and coats are made for cool weather, roughly 35 to 60°F (about 2 to 16°C). Lighter versions in cotton or linen exist and work in spring, and printed silk houndstooth scarves are worn year round.

It is a daytime, smart casual pattern at heart. A houndstooth jacket suits the office, a dinner out or a weekend, but it is less at home at formal evening events, and a loud houndstooth is best avoided at a funeral or a conservative job interview, where a quieter solid or subtle texture is the safer choice.

How to care for houndstooth

Care depends on the fiber and the construction, so check the label first. Tailored houndstooth jackets and coats in wool should be brushed after wear, aired and professionally cleaned when needed, not machine washed, because the interlinings and shoulder shaping can distort. Our guide to cleaning a wool coat covers spot cleaning and when to go to a cleaner.

Wool houndstooth skirts, scarves and knits are often hand washable in lukewarm water, about 86°F (30°C), with a wool detergent, then dried flat. Black and white wool can transfer dye when new, so wash it alone the first few times. Store jackets on shaped hangers and knits folded, both protected from moths.