Home / Celebrity Style / The good, the plaid but not ugly: how to wear autumnal checks

The good, the plaid but not ugly: how to wear autumnal checks

The catwalks were covered in acres of check. This is of course standard for autumn – few things have dug their nails into the colder climes of the fashion calendar with more tenacity than a kilt and a Prince of Wales check shirt. Except this time, there’s more to this look than Vivienne Westwood and lumbersexuals with their buffalo check shirts. Let us guide you through this season’s offerings:



Tommy Hilfiger show, London fashion week, September 2017. Photograph: Pixelformu/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

The picnic blanket

The York Notes of check, the picnic blanket is the perfect way to start your journey into the world of checks. Warm and mayo-stained, a checked blanket is also familiar, easy to wear (wrap it twice like a shawl) and carries what is ostensibly a summer product into the winter, making it good for the economy. For inspiration, look to Tommy Hilfiger, who opened his show with Gigi Hadid and a mohair rug-style coat, or models at Anne Sofie Madsen who layered several blankets into a dress, or this fleece version from MS in a buffalo check. Failing that, try the boot of your Volvo.



Adwoa Aboah before the Burberry September 2017 collection show in London. Photograph: Jonathan Baron/Burberry

The Burberry check

Now tantamount to a logo, the Burberry check returned to the spring catwalk at LFW, and in a collaboration with Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy. The key piece to get your hands on is of course the Burberry cap, which was discontinued in 2004 after a public-relations crisis involving Danniella Westbrook, a septum and some woeful media snobbery, but has been sanctioned by model of the year Adwoa Aboah, who wore one in the show (and on Rihanna, who wore one IRL). And with news that Christopher Bailey is leaving Burberry, get in quick. These things may be worth a small fortune.



Zara’s check scarf. Photograph: Zara

The silent check

We call this the silent check because it’s black and white, but really any moniker will work here (the New York Times goes for shadow check, others the grey scale check; truly, anything goes). Its popularity says a lot about its prominence in fashion, being halfway between Wall Street and Americana. It’s also good if you’re keen to be on trend, but are a wuss about colour. Try Fenty or Public School if you’ve money to burn, or Zara and Topshop if you haven’t. Excellent, also, if you’re trying to distance yourself from the aforementioned lumbersexual.



Zara’s check dress. Photograph: Zara

The Clueless check

Yellow checks taking over the catwalk? Well, the MacLeod clan would have something to say about that. Still, following its indelible association with Clueless and Cher Horowitz’s very similarly patterned kilt, it’s back, sanctioned first by Justin Bieber, who tied a yellow check round his waist, and then by current season Ashley Williams, Lacoste, Preen and Zara. Think of this check as a blank screen on which to project your inner Scot or high school rich kid, depending.



Balenciaga show at Paris fashion week, March 2017. Photograph: Sipa USA/REX/Shutterstock

The wonky check

Less an actual colour scheme, and more a styling tic: checked or herringbone jackets might be the key kit of the season, but it’s all about wearing it off-kilter, and incorrectly buttoned, as seen at Monse and Balenciaga and frankly, every other street style star on the street. This way you won’t actually have to buy anything.

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