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Houndstooth, houndstooth check or hound's tooth (and similar spellings) is a duotone textile
Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
 pattern, characterized by broken checks
Check (fabric)

A check is a pattern consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical bands in two or more colours in woven cloth. Checks are traditionally associated with the with Celtic countries, especially Scotland where woven dyed wool was, at one time, a principal cloth....
 or abstract four-pointed shapes. The traditional colours are black and white, although nowadays other colours are occasionally substituted for the black.

Houndstooth checks originated in woven wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 cloth of the Scottish Lowlands
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, but are now used in many other materials.






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Houndstooth, houndstooth check or hound's tooth (and similar spellings) is a duotone textile
Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
 pattern, characterized by broken checks
Check (fabric)

A check is a pattern consisting of crossed horizontal and vertical bands in two or more colours in woven cloth. Checks are traditionally associated with the with Celtic countries, especially Scotland where woven dyed wool was, at one time, a principal cloth....
 or abstract four-pointed shapes. The traditional colours are black and white, although nowadays other colours are occasionally substituted for the black.

Houndstooth checks originated in woven wool
Wool

Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells, called follicles, of animals in the Caprinae family, principally domestic sheep, but the hair of certain species of other Mammalia such as cashmere goat, llamas, rabbits and keeshonds may also be called wool....
 cloth of the Scottish Lowlands
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, but are now used in many other materials. The traditional houndstooth check is made with alternating bands of four dark and four light threads in both warp
Warp (weaving)

In weaving, the warp is the set of lengthwise yarns through which the weft is woven. Each individual warp thread in a fabric is called a warp end....
 and weft
Weft

In weaving, weft or woof is the yarn which is drawn under and over parallel Warp yarns to create a textile. In North America, it is sometimes referred to as the "fill" or the "filling yarn", and in India, it is referred to as "baana"....
 woven in a simple 2:2 twill
Twill

Twill is a type of textile weaving with a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs.It is made by passing the weft thread over one or more Warp threads and then under two or more warp threads and so on, with a "step" or offset between rows to create the characteristic diagonal pattern....
, two over - two under the warp, advancing one thread each pass.

Glen plaid
Glen plaid

Glen plaid or Glenurquhart check is a woollen fabric with a Weaving twill design of small and large Check . The name is taken from the valley of Glenurquhart in Inverness-shire, Scotland, where the checked wool was first used in the 1800s by the New-Zealand-born James Ogilvie-Grant, 11th Earl of Seafield to outfit her gamekeepers,...
 (short for Glen
Glen

A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. The word comes from the Irish language/Scottish Gaelic language word gleann, or glion in Manx language....
 Urquhart plaid
Plaid

Plaid is a Scots language word meaning blanket, usually referring to patterned woollen cloth. It is unclear if the Scottish Gaelic language word Plaide came first....
) is a textile pattern that is similar to houndstooth, with alternating blocks of 2-on-2 and 4-on-4 colouring. Glen plaid is also known as the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
 check, which has an over-check in a bright or contrasting color. The pattern was popularized by Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom

Edward VIII was Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the dominion, and Emperor of India from 20 January 1936, following the death of his father, George V of the United Kingdom, until his abdication on 11 December 1936....
 when he was the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
. The pattern made a frequent appearance on fabrics designed in the 1930s through to the 1970s.

In popular culture

Legendary former University of Alabama
University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a state university coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System....
 football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant
Bear Bryant

Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an United States college football coach . He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama Alabama Crimson Tide football....
 made this pattern popular by wearing his trademark Houndstooth hat on the sidelines during most of the games he coached. Ian Fleming's
Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English literature author and journalist. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling his adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories....
 novels also describe James Bond
James Bond (character)

Commander James Bond, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1952....
 as wearing a black and white houndstooth suit with dark blue shirt and black silk knit tie.

Houndstooth is commonly used for suiting
Suit (clothing)

The man's suit of clothes is a set of garments which are crafted from the same cloth. The word suit derives from the French language suite, meaning "following", because the trousers and waistcoat follow the jacket's cloth and colour....
, especially jackets/blazers. It is also commonly mistakenly referred to as "guncheck" or "dog-tooth".

It is also the motif for the Australian department store chain David Jones Limited
David Jones Limited

David Jones Limited , colloquially known as DJs, is an Australian retailer. Its primary business is an Australia-wide chain of premium department stores....
.

Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield

Holden Caulfield is a fictional character, the protagonist and antihero of J.D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye....
, protagonist of 1951 cult novel The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 in literature novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, the novel has become a common part of high school and college curricula throughout the English-speaking world; it has also been translated into almost all of the world's major languages....
, owns a hound's tooth jacket which he lends to fellow student and adversary Stradlater.

See also

  • Paisley (design)
    Paisley (design)

    Paisley or Paisley pattern is a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian carpet and Indian origin, similar to half of the Yin yang symbol....
  • Tartan
    Tartan

    Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven cloth, now used in many other materials....