Houndstooth - Imprint (NYC)

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One particular check popularized by the Duke of Windsor was the Glen Chung Urquhart check, Glenurquhart check, or in short, Glen check (See fig. 3). Although the check commonly referred to the Duke on Windsor check, the origins lead not to the Duke of Windsor, but his grandfather, Edward VII, seen in the later part of the nineteenth century appropriating the check-‐on-‐check pattern while possibly hunting at Balmoral castle, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 16 The term Glen is a geographical term for valley as described by author John Wittow, “a Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands.” 17 The check pattern inherited its name from a valley in Inverness-‐shire, Scotland and adopted in the 1840s by Lady Caroline Countess of Seafield. Lady Caroline is sometimes credited with being the designer of the handloom weave. Although a more plausible explanation was that she merely popularized a local pattern by using the existing Glen Urquhart check to outfit her gamekeepers. Scholars have suggested that Elizabeth Macdougall, from a little village at the foot of the glen named Lewston probably designed the motif. 18 The Glen Urquhart check, made up of tiny houndstooth, marries the woven-‐in horizontal and vertical lines, with light contrasting color, creating an over-‐plaid (See fig. 4). 19 The name Urquhart is also the name of a Scottish clan. The popularity of the clan tartan idea was applied to “District Checks” in tweed for use by ghillies, gamekeepers, and estate employees of sporting estates. By the early twentieth century, after the Duke on Windsor re-‐introduced the houndstooth-‐check or the Glen Urquhart check ensemble, his association with prestigious sports and recreations such as hunting, riding, and golf, the motif became progressively fashionable in informal men’s and women’s apparel. 6
Throughout the 1920s to the 1950s, houndstooth-‐checks were predominately woven into small scale tweeds for somber applications in men’s and women’s tailoring. Chung After the Second World War, houndstooth emerged as a bold graphic pattern, as a symbol of prestige far removed from its origins as a woven pattern. Coinciding with the introduction of the New Look by Dior, the company launched their first fragrance, Miss Dior, in 1947. A houndstooth-‐check pattern enveloped the background of the fragrance box (See fig. 5). In addition to the distinction gained from the custom checks by the Duke on Windsor, the launch of Miss Dior cemented the houndstooth-‐check association with prestige. By the end of the 1950s, the applications of houndstooth evolved fully from a weave into a symbol of luxury. Bold prints of the motif began appearing beyond the usual sports, recreation, and tailored jackets from earlier times. In 1966, New York designer Geoffrey Beene once again rejuvenated the houndstooth-‐check by printing the motif on dresses inset with undulating bands of lace. 20 Beene described the line titled, Country Squire, for the woman who, “walks, drives, stays at home, or flies off to Rome.” 21 The classic houndstooth-‐checks were no longer settled in plain black and white. Beene introduced the motifs in colors of subtle lavender paired with charcoal blonde and bottle green or caramel and black, softly gathered on skirts balanced with a short jacket (See fig. 6-‐8). <strong>Houndstooth</strong> still carried the same prestige as used by the royal family and in luxury items such as the fragrance by Dior, but now in its contemporary usage, designers continue to take the symbolic meaning and reinterpreted it for everyday usage. 7
Page 1 and 2: Imprint (NYC): The evolution of mot
Page 3 and 4: Chung abstract four-‐pointed sh
Page 5: wide was used from local and un-
Page 9 and 10: with the size and scale of the houn
Page 11 and 12: Fig. 3. “H.R.H. Started It,” Vo
Page 13 and 14: Fig. 8. Geoffrey Beene, Fall 1966 H
Page 15 and 16: Notes: 1. Maitra, Encyclopedic Dict
Page 17 and 18: Bibliography Chung 17 “Dictionary
Page 19: Chung 19 Wilson, Eric. “McQueen L

Houndstooth - Imprint (NYC)

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