Laura Dean Bennett
Staff Writer
Even before gingham grabbed America’s attention in 1939 – when Dorothy wore her blue and white jumper in “Wizard of Oz” – gingham had made a splash in American homes.
Its first dramatic entrance on the fashion scene came in 1916 when a pink gingham housedress designed by a Kansas City designer named Nelly Don sold 216 ready-made dresses for a dollar apiece – in one single day.
This was during a time when off the rack clothes weren’t available to most American women. They were using treadle sewing machines to sew their own clothes.
Gingham’s classic print and the durable cotton fabrics on which it was printed made it a sensible choice for clothing.
It was in great demand throughout the country for ladies and little girl’s dresses, blouses, aprons and, in its usual blue and white pattern, even men’s shirts.
Gingham’s natural charm was the perfect choice for a costume to give Judy Garland’s Dorothy her quintessential farm girl appeal.
A year after “Wizard of Oz” was released, gingham began to take the stage in an adult role when Katherine Hepburn stunned Cary Grant in a gingham printed dress in “The Philadelphia Story.”
Lauren Bacall kept her cool in gingham in “To Have and Have Not” and Ingrid Bergman looked hot in gingham in “Notorious.”
Since then, the iconic print has been a favorite of some of the most famous starlets in history.
Marilyn Monroe looked fetching in gingham trousers.
Doris Day was often seen photographed in gingham – on and off screen.
Brigitte Bardot caused a stir when she got married in a gingham dress.
Gingham draped the curves of Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy and Gloria Vanderbilt.
And gingham was more than a clothing craze. After she wrapped herself in gingham, Vanderbilt wrapped her entire home in gingham wallpaper, creating another arena for gingham to conquer.
In addition to its cinematic history, gingham was often employed by costume designers on television, too.
Of course, Mary Ann’s gingham blouse was a regular on Gilligan’s Island and it made several appearances on the Brady Bunch, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Dukes of Hazard.
In our not-so-distant past, it even had a few scenes in Madmen.
Gingham is a true classic, as each decade has brought gingham back, not only in America, but elsewhere in the world.
Who can forget the photograph of Princess Diana, beguilingly sitting on the front steps of Highgrove House in pink gingham slacks? She strode across the field in red and white gingham trousers at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor.
It’s been worn on the cover of Vogue, Elle, GQ and Town and Country magazines.
Recently, Kate Hudson, Kylie Minogue, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Middleton, Serena Gomez, Rihanna, Margot Robbie have worn gingham on and off screen.
Taylor Swift – probably the most popular female songstress of 2024 – was recently spotted wearing a super-short, mini-skirted black and white gingham dress on the streets of New York.
Gingham obviously looks great on women but it looks darned good on men, too.
James Dean, leaning casually back against a barn door in a famous black and white portrait, made a deliberate statement of country style – in gingham.
Sean Connery was ready for action in a red and white gingham shirt paired with swimming trunks in “From Russia with Love.”
And a bit more recently, reminiscent of the James Dean shoot, Zac Efron rocked the cover of GQ wearing a blue gingham shirt.
Today, gingham shirts, pants and blazers, often paired with khaki and denim, are still a popular item in men’s fashion.
As gingham is mostly used in cotton, it’s a natural choice for the summer months. We often see it in shorts, sundresses, capris and swimsuits.
But it can also be found in fall and winter collections, rendered in heavier fabrics for cold weather.
Besides its use in women’s, men’s and children’s clothing, it’s America’s favorite picnic tablecloth material and the classic lining for picnic baskets.
Whether in clothing, curtains, upholstery, wallpaper, kitchenware, home accessories or party décor, gingham always brings a sense of country chic to everything.
Gingham is the name of a distinctive checked print often, but not exclusively, found in cotton or cotton blend fabrics.
The background is traditionally white, and the patterns colored, with the most common gingham color patterns traditionally being red on white and blue on white. But gingham now comes in all colors.
The size of the checks can vary from small to large, but the pattern has always emphasized same-sized vertical and horizontal lines forming the squares.
However, there is, these days, a plaid gingham featuring varying sizes of squares on sometimes a different color background.
But please do not confuse gingham with plaid. There is a difference.
Plaid is a pattern of intersecting stripes that can have different widths and colors. Plaid patterns often incorporate diagonal lines and feature a variety of colors, whereas gingham only has two.
When the English language first recorded the word “gingham” in 1615, it was as a piece of cotton or linen which had a colored stripe.
It was first brought to England and Europe from Malaysia by Dutch traders, along with muslin, calico and spices.
In the original Malaysian, it was called “genggang,” which means striped.
Because of this, it’s likely that the name had its origin in the Dutch colonies – Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
The fabric quickly caught on all around the world and is so ubiquitous that many countries claim it as part of their history.
Germany has said that gingham originated in Bavaria.
The Masai tribe in Africa assert that gingham has been worn by their herdsmen for thousands of years.
In Cambodia a similar piece of gingham-printed cloth, called the krama, has been a traditional item of clothing for women since the 13th century where it’s worn as a sarong and is also used as a makeshift hammock for babies.
Japan claims to have produced more gingham fabric than any other country.
Gingham took on a spiritual connotation in the Japanese and Indonesian cultures where the opposite colors of the print – seemingly overlapping each other – were thought to represent good and evil being reconciled.
In India, a piece of gingham cloth called a gamucha, has been regularly carried by working men for hundreds of years.
They wear it over one shoulder and use it to wipe their brows, twist it around their heads to balance and help carry heavy loads or spread it on the ground to take a nap.
The French, well-known for their fashion sense, naturally fell in love with gingham. It was first milled in a French town called Vichy so the French made it their own by renaming it “Vichy.”
British historians presumed that the origin of the term, gingham, occurred in 18th century England, at the start of Britain’s industrial boom.
Manchester’s textile mills were experimenting with imported cotton and dye – they eventually changed the original striped material to the now well-known checked pattern of gingham.
By the start of the 1800s, the mills were producing the gingham cloth – almost always in a blue and white pattern that we are familiar with today.
By the Victorian era, gingham was all the rage in England and America.
Of course, America would hasten to note our own century-long production of gingham fabric where its history in the United States is closely tied to the history of cotton production and the development of our textile industry.
Gingham is as American as, well, apple pie.
It’s as old as the hills but also, as Gen-Zers would say, it’s “on fire” in 2024 fashion.
Cosmopolitan magazine reported in March that “anything’s better in gingham print.”
Gingham can’t help but conjure up simpler time. It’s basic, without being boring, and timeless, without being outdated.
If there’s one pattern that’s stood the test of time, it’s gingham.
More than almost any other print, America turns to gingham in the summertime.
So, if you have gingham in your closet… it’s time to bring it out and enjoy it.
