Plate No. 013 · pattern

Houndstooth

Houndstooth is a duotone pattern of broken checks with pointed extensions, produced not by printing but by weaving a two-and-two twill with a four-and-four color order in both warp and weft. It was worn in the Scottish Lowlands as a woolen shepherd's check before it was taken up by fashion. The points, or teeth, are a direct result of the twill floats crossing the bands of alternating color.