What is Gingham?

Oppa Gingham Style!

Gingham is a plain-woven fabric featuring a distinctive checked pattern, traditionally created by weaving coloured and white yarns together.

Classic gingham is yarn-dyed, meaning the yarns are coloured before the fabric is woven, rather than the check being printed onto the surface afterwards.

Most commonly associated with cotton and cotton-blend fabrics, gingham can be lightweight or more substantial and is used for everything from shirts, blouses and dresses to uniforms, aprons and accessories.

And yes, more than a decade later, we're still apparently incapable of seeing the word gingham without thinking Gangnam. 😆

What does gingham look like?

Gingham is recognised by its regular grid of alternating coloured and lighter squares.

Traditional gingham commonly combines one colour with white.
Classic examples include:

Blue & white
Red & white
Navy & white
Black & white
Green & white

But gingham can be produced in virtually any colour.

The checks can also vary enormously in scale, from very fine miniature checks through to large, bold designs.

What actually makes it gingham?

Traditional gingham has several characteristic features.

It's woven, not simply printed

Gingham traditionally uses pre-dyed yarns woven together to create the pattern within the fabric itself.

This is known as yarn-dyed fabric.

That's different from taking an already woven piece of plain fabric and printing a check pattern onto its surface.

It uses a plain weave

Gingham is generally constructed using a plain weave, where warp and weft yarns alternate over and under one another.

Unlike the diagonal structure we just covered in What is Twill?, plain weave produces a simple criss-cross construction.

The colours overlap

This is the clever bit.

Imagine blue and white gingham.

Where white crosses white, you get a light square.

Where blue crosses blue, you get the darkest blue.

Where blue crosses white, the colours visually combine to create a lighter or mid-tone blue.

That's what produces gingham's characteristic three-tone checked appearance.

Is gingham always cotton?

No. Gingham has traditionally been strongly associated with cotton and cotton gingham remains extremely common.

However, modern gingham fabrics can also be made from:

• polyester
• polyester/cotton blends
• viscose
• other fibres and blends

So gingham describes the characteristic fabric and check construction rather than specifying one particular fibre.

Is gingham always blue and white?

Definitely not. Blue and white may be one of the most recognisable versions but gingham can be produced in almost any colour. 😂

Red, pink, green, yellow, navy and black gingham are all common.

The defining characteristic is the regular checked effect created by the interaction of the yarns, rather than a particular colour combination.

Is gingham the same on both sides?

Traditional yarn-dyed gingham generally has a very similar appearance on both sides because the coloured yarns form part of the fabric itself.

That's quite different from many printed check fabrics, where the design is applied primarily to one surface.

Traditional yarn-dyed gingham generally looks substantially the same on both sides.

Gingham vs printed check

A fabric can look like gingham without necessarily being traditionally woven gingham.

Traditional gingham

The yarn is dyed before weaving and the check is created as the coloured warp and weft yarns intersect.

Printed check

The fabric is woven first and the check design is subsequently printed onto its surface.

From a distance they may look remarkably similar, but they're produced differently.

Is gingham the same as check?

Gingham is a type of checked fabric but not every checked fabric is gingham.

"Check" is a broad description covering many patterns formed from intersecting horizontal and vertical lines or blocks.

Other checked patterns can include designs such as tartan, windowpane, graph checks and many others.

Traditional gingham is distinguished by its regular, repeating check and characteristic colour interaction.

Is gingham the same as plaid?

No. Plaid or tartan designs generally use multiple coloured lines or bands of varying widths, creating more complex patterns.

Gingham is much simpler and more regular.

Think:

Gingham → regular, evenly sized checks

Plaid/tartan → intersecting bands, often multiple colours and widths

Is gingham lightweight?

Gingham isn't inherently a medium-weight fabric.

You'll find lightweight gingham used for summer shirts, dresses and blouses, while more substantial versions can be used for uniforms, aprons, homewares and other applications.

Fabric weight depends on the yarn, fibre and construction rather than the pattern alone.

What is gingham used for?

Gingham has been used across fashion, uniforms and home textiles for generations.

Common applications include:

• shirts
• blouses
• dresses
• skirts
• school uniforms
• hospitality uniforms
• aprons
• children's clothing
• accessories
• table linen and homewares

In uniforms, the familiar check can provide pattern and colour while still maintaining a relatively traditional appearance.

Is gingham used for uniforms?

Very much so. Gingham has a long association with school uniforms, particularly dresses and shirts.

You'll also see checked fabrics used throughout hospitality, including: shirts, blouses, aprons and other front-of-house uniforms.

Because the pattern can be produced in different colours and scales, it can range from quite traditional to surprisingly contemporary.

Is gingham cheap fabric?

Gingham isn't inherently cheap. The price and quality depend on things such as:

• fibre
• yarn quality
• fabric weight
• weave quality
• finishing
• manufacturer

You can certainly buy inexpensive gingham, but you can also buy premium yarn-dyed gingham.

Calling the entire fabric category cheap is a bit like calling all polyester cheap, there are simply too many variations.

Where did gingham come from?

The English word gingham is generally traced through European trading terminology to the Malay word genggang, referring historically to a striped or patterned textile.

Early fabrics described as gingham weren't necessarily the checked cloth we immediately picture today.

As European textile manufacturing developed, particularly during the 18th century, the term increasingly became associated with the checked yarn-dyed fabric familiar today.

So gingham essentially underwent a centuries-long rebrand. Very on trend of it!

Gingham in modern clothing

Despite its long history, gingham keeps cycling back into fashion because it's incredibly adaptable.

Change the scale, colour, garment and styling and it can look: traditional, corporate, casual, retro, playful or contemporary.

A tiny navy check business shirt and a huge pink gingham summer dress might barely look related but they're variations on the same basic idea.