Houndstooth is a distinctive two-tone textile pattern made up of broken checks or four-pointed shapes that resemble jagged teeth. It is most commonly seen in black and white, but can appear in other contrasting color combinations. Key details:
- Pattern structure: A duotone design created by a specific weave where light and dark threads form a tessellated, zigzag-like or broken-check motif.
- Names and variants: Also called dogstooth, hounds tooth, hound’s tooth, and similar spellings; sometimes referred to as pied de poule in French. It has historically been described as “border tartan” in some contexts due to its Scottish origins.
- Origins and usage: Associated with Scottish textile weaving and traditional outerwear, though today it appears across fashion, accessories, and home textiles worldwide.
- Fabric context: Commonly produced in wool or wool blends, but adaptable to other fibers and weights for jackets, suits, skirts, scarves, and upholstery.
If you’d like, I can provide examples of how the pattern is woven, its different scale variations (micro to oversized), or guidance on styling houndstooth in outfits.
