But what is it?
Gingham is a medium - weight balanced plain woven fabric made from dyed cotton, or cotton blend yarn. It is made of carded, medium or fine yarns, where the colouring is on the warp yams and always along the grain (weft).
It came to the UK from Europe in the 17th Century, originally stripey, which is what 'gingham' means. It then started to be milled in Manchester and became checked.
Probably one of the most seminal moments for gingham was in 1939, when Judy Garland wore the pinafore in the wizard of Oz. Prior to this it was mostly used for house holds soft furnishings like kitchen curtains and table cloths.
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| Dorothy in her Gingham dress |
Another famous moment for Gingham was 20 years later when Bridget Bardot had a pink gingham wedding dress made for her.
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| Bridget Bardot Pink Gingham Wedding |
The 1960's was a key era for the textile, early on in this decade, designers like Ben Sherman and Fred Perry used it to make mens shirts, this was quickly snapped up by the Mods. Gingham is an affordable fabric that looks youthful and its hard wearing.
Most of us, will connect gingham with the Mods, and every now and then it returns to the fashion stage and owns it like it were fresh and new.
Gingham school dresses are used all over the world, often in blue and white, or red and white, sometimes green or yellow. When my daughter first started school, I loathed having to put her in a restrictive uniform, and have always preferred to dress her in a gingham dress, weather permitting.
I love gingham, preferring cotton to synthetic, its nice to work with and is economical because it has a no 'wrong' side, and you can use the lines for a guide, when cutting and sewing.
If you want to read more about gingham, here is a great blog I spotted:
V is for Vintage - Gingham
Here are two of my Mod inspired gingham pieces
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| 'Lulu' Size 18 Black and white gingham Mod dress Buy Lulu here |
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| 'Marianne' - Small gingham tabard (jerkin) |
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