Gingham

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title: "Gingham" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["woven-fabrics", "textile-patterns", "tartan", "2010s-fashion"] description: "Type of fabric" topic_path: "general/woven-fabrics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingham" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Type of fabric ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Greengingham.jpg" caption="Gingham cloth with green and white checks"] ::

Gingham, also called Vichy check, is a medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric typically with tartan (plaid), striped, or check duotone patterns, in bright colour and in white made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarns. It is made of carded, medium or fine yarns.

History

It is speculated that the fabric now known as gingham may have been made at Guingamp, a town in Brittany, France, and that the fabric may be named after the town. Some sources say that the name came into English via Dutch. When originally imported into Europe in the 17th century, gingham was a striped fabric, though now it is distinguished by its checkered pattern. From the mid-18th century, when it was being produced in the mills of Manchester, England, it started to be woven into checked or tartan (plaid) patterns (often blue and white). Checked gingham became more common over time, though striped gingham was still available in the late Victorian period. Gingham was introduced to France from Malaysia, where it started being produced in Vichy, France, under the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. In Spain the pattern is known as estampado vichy or cuadro vichy.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Gingham_(blue),_offset,_zoomed_out.png" caption="Simple gingham pattern in white and blue"] ::

In the United States, the mass popularity of men's blue and white gingham-patterned shirts in the 2010s led to critical media coverage of the phenomenon.

Use

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Catalogue_no._16,spring-summer-_R.H.Macy_and_Co.(1911)(14597965827).jpg" caption="Gingham patterns in a 1911 [[Macy's]] catalogue"] ::

Gingham fabric was popular to use in various dress material such as shirts, skirts, maxi and also for some home furnishing such as towels and curtains. Along with muslin, gingham is often used as a test fabric while designing fashion or used for making an inexpensive fitting shell prior to making the clothing in fashion fabric. Gingham shirts have been worn by mods since the 1960s and continue to be identified with fans of indie and mod music with brands like Lambretta Clothing, Ben Sherman, Fred Perry, Penguin and Merc producing gingham shirts.

In the United Kingdom, the gingham pattern is often used for younger girls' school uniforms.

In popular culture

• The Eugene Field poem "The Duel" concerns a duel between a "gingham dog" and a "calico cat".
• In Tell Taylor's popular song "Down By the Old Mill Stream" (1908), "You" was "dressed in gingham, too."
• Brigitte Bardot famously wore a pink gingham dress when she got married. This started a trend which caused a shortage of this fabric in France.
• Manchester United F.C. wore a gingham-pattern shirt during the 2012–13 season.
• Dorothy Gale wore a blue gingham dress in the Wizard of Oz book and film.
• Mary Ann Summers on Gilligan's Island often wore a gingham dress.
• Bill Hicks made reference to gingham in his famous stand-up comedy routine in regard to Jack Palance from the 1953 movie Shane.
• The second challenge of The Great British Bake Off episodes, known as the Technical Challenge, the ingredients and instructions are often covered by a gingham cloth.
• The second verse of the 1956 song "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" sung by Wanda Jackson starts with "I grew up in faded gingham."
• Gingham dresses were standard attire for most female performers on the Grand Ole Opry until the 1960s, such that the dress code was jocularly known as the Gingham Curtain until Jeannie Seely pushed for its abolition.
• In Marty Robbins's Grammy-winning song "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" (1970), he mentions his wife "in a dress made of gingham".
• In the Captain Beefheart song "My Human Gets Me Blues" from the album Trout Mask Replica (1969), he sings "I saw you baby, dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress."
• Japanese girl group AKB48 used gingham as a general theme for their 2012 single "Gingham Check".
• The XTC song "Pink Thing" contains the line "If you could only see the way the gingham swirls."

Notes

References

• Kadolph, Sara J., ed.: Textiles, 10th edition, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2007,
• Material for Boys' Clothing: Gingham Vichy (optionally requires username and password to display images; press cancel until the box is gone)

References

1. Kadolph 2007, p. 325
2. "gingham noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes {{!}} Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com".
3. {{cite EB1911
4. "Online Etymology Dictionary".
5. "Did old-fashioned gingham always have checks?".
6. (July 2022). "Los cuadros vichy y la historia detrás del eterno estampado de verano".
7. Fitzpatrick, Alex. (August 22, 2014). "In Defense of That J-Crew Gingham Shirt".
8. (8 March 2018). "Stop Dressing Like Every Other Guy: Give up Your Gingham Shirts". Wall Street Journal.
9. Woolf, Jake. (August 21, 2014). "There's an Entire Instagram Account Dedicated to One J.Crew Shirt". [[GQ]].
10. Hewitt, Paolo. (2011). "The Soul Stylists". Mainstream Publishing.
11. Laraine Porter, Justin Smith, I.Q. Hunter. (2017). "The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History". Taylor and Francis.
12. Roya Ferdows, Soosan Latham. (2017). "The Boarding School Girls". Routledge.
13. "Manchester United 12/13 Nike Home Football Shirt". footballshirtculture.com.
14. (September 2019). "''Country Music'' (The Sons and Daughters of America)". [[PBS]].
15. (2003). "Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music: 1800–2000". The Country Music Press & Vanderbilt University Press.
16. "My Woman My Woman My Wife lyrics chords - Marty Robbins".
17. "Grammy Award Nominees 1971 - Grammy Award Winners 1971".

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