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{{Short description|Type of fabric}}[[File:Greengingham.jpg|thumb|Gingham cloth with green and white checks]]
'''Gingham''', also called '''Vichy check''', is a medium-weight balanced [[plain weave|plain-woven]] [[textile|fabric]] typically with [[Tartan|tartan (plaid)]], striped, or [[Check (pattern)|check]] duotone patterns, in bright colour and in white made from [[dye]]d [[cotton]] or cotton-blend [[Yarn|yarns]]. It is made of [[Carding|carded]], medium or fine [[yarn]]s.<ref>Kadolph 2007, p. 325</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=gingham noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes {{!}} Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com|url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/gingham|access-date=2020-10-23|website=www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com}}</ref>

==History==
{{refimprove|section|date=October 2024}}
It is speculated that the fabric now known as ''gingham'' may have been made at [[Guingamp]], a town in [[Brittany]], France, and that the fabric may be named after the town.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Gingham|volume=12|page=28}}</ref> Some sources say that the name came into [[English language|English]] via [[Dutch language|Dutch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gingham|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com}}</ref> When originally imported into Europe in the 17th century, gingham was a striped fabric, though now it is distinguished by its checkered pattern. From the mid-18th century, when it was being produced in the mills of [[Manchester]], [[England]], it started to be woven into [[check (pattern)|check]]ed or [[tartan|tartan (plaid)]] patterns (often blue and white). Checked gingham became more common over time, though striped gingham was still available in the late [[Victorian era|Victorian]] period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quezi.com/4517|title=Did old-fashioned gingham always have checks?|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103192433/http://quezi.com/4517|archive-date=2010-01-03}}</ref>{{bcn|date=October 2024}} Gingham was introduced to France from Malaysia, where it started being produced in [[Vichy]], France, under the reign of [[Napoleon]] Bonaparte. In Spain the pattern is known as {{lang|es|estampado vichy}} or {{lang|es|cuadro vichy}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vogue.mx/moda/articulo/cuadros-vichy-historia-del-estampado-de-moda-del-verano | title=Los cuadros vichy y la historia detrás del eterno estampado de verano | date=July 2022 }}</ref>

In the United States, the mass popularity of men's blue and white gingham-patterned shirts in the 2010s led to critical media coverage of the phenomenon.<ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Alex |last=Fitzpatrick |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=August 22, 2014 |url=https://time.com/3159706/j-crew-gingham-shirt/?amp=true |title = In Defense of That J-Crew Gingham Shirt}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/stop-dressing-like-every-guy-in-america-give-up-your-gingham-shirts-1520525214|title=Stop Dressing Like Every Other Guy: Give up Your Gingham Shirts|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=8 March 2018|last1=Gallagher|first1=Jacob}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |first=Jake |last=Woolf |url=https://www.gq.com/story/theres-an-entire-instagram-account-dedicated-to-one-jcrew-shirt/amp|title = There's an Entire Instagram Account Dedicated to One J.Crew Shirt |journal=[[GQ]] |date=August 21, 2014 }}</ref>

== Use ==
[[File:Catalogue no. 16, spring-summer - R. H. Macy and Co. (1911) (14597965827).jpg|thumb|Gingham patterns in a 1911 [[Macy's]] catalogue]]
Gingham fabric was popular to use in various dress material such as [[Shirt|shirts]], skirts, [[Maxi dress|maxi]] and also for some home furnishing such as towels and [[Curtain|curtains]]. Along with [[muslin]], gingham is often used as a test fabric while designing fashion or used for making an inexpensive [[Toile|fitting shell]] prior to making the clothing in fashion fabric. Gingham shirts have been worn by [[Mod (subculture)|mods]] since the 1960s and continue to be identified with fans of indie and mod music with brands like [[Lambretta (clothing)|Lambretta Clothing]], [[Ben Sherman]], [[Fred Perry#Clothing label|Fred Perry]], [[Original Penguin|Penguin]] and [[Merc Clothing|Merc]] producing gingham shirts.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Paolo|title=The Soul Stylists|publisher=Mainstream Publishing|year=2011|isbn=9781780570235|pages=154}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Laraine Porter, Justin Smith|first=I.Q. Hunter|title=The Routledge Companion to British Cinema History|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=2017|isbn=9781315392172|pages=288}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, the gingham pattern is often used for younger girls' school uniforms.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roya Ferdows|first=Soosan Latham|title=The Boarding School Girls|year=2017|isbn=9781351745666|pages=2017|publisher=Routledge }}</ref>

== In popular culture ==

* The [[Eugene Field]] poem "[[The Duel (poem)|The Duel]]" concerns a duel between a "gingham dog" and a "[[calico]] [[Ithaca Kitty|cat]]."
* In Tell Taylor's popular song "Down By the Old Mill Stream" (1908), "You" was "dressed in gingham, too."
* [[Brigitte Bardot]] famously wore a pink gingham dress when she got married. This started a trend which caused a shortage of this fabric in France.
* [[Manchester United F.C.]] wore a gingham-pattern [[Kit (association football)|shirt]] during the 2012–13 season.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manchester United 12/13 Nike Home Football Shirt |url=http://www.footballshirtculture.com/12/13-kits/manchester-united-2012-2013-home-football-shirt.html |publisher=footballshirtculture.com |access-date=2012-05-11 |archive-date=2020-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326120215/http://www.footballshirtculture.com/12/13-Kits/manchester-united-2012-2013-home-football-shirt.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Dorothy Gale]] wore a [[Gingham dress of Judy Garland|blue gingham dress]] in the ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|Wizard of Oz]]'' book and [[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|film]].
* [[Mary Ann Summers]] on ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' often wore a gingham dress.
* [[Bill Hicks]] made reference to gingham in his famous stand-up comedy routine in regard to [[Jack Palance]] from the 1953 movie ''[[Shane (film)|Shane]]''.
* The second challenge of [[The Great British Bake Off]] episodes, known as  the Technical Challenge, the ingredients and instructions are often covered by a gingham cloth. 
* The second verse of the 1956 song [[Silver Threads and Golden Needles]] sung by [[Wanda Jackson]] starts with "I grew up in faded gingham."
* Gingham dresses were standard attire for most female performers on the ''[[Grand Ole Opry]]'' until the 1960s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burns |first1=Ken |title=''Country Music'' (The Sons and Daughters of America) |journal=[[PBS]] |date=September 2019}}</ref> such that the dress code was jocularly known as the [[Jeannie Seely#Gingham Curtain|Gingham Curtain]] until [[Jeannie Seely]] pushed for its abolition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oermann |first1=Robert K. |last2=Bufwack |first2=Mary A. |title=Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music: 1800–2000 |date=2003 |publisher=The Country Music Press & Vanderbilt University Press |location=Nashville, TN |isbn=0-8265-1432-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/findinghervoicew0000bufw|ref={{SfnRef|Oermann, Robert K.|Bufwack, Mary A.|2003}} |page=302 }}</ref>
* In [[Marty Robbins]]'s Grammy-winning song "My Woman, My Woman, My Wife" (1970), he mentions his wife "in a dress made of gingham".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classic-country-song-lyrics.com/mywomanmywomanmywifelyricschords.html|title=My Woman My Woman My Wife lyrics chords - Marty Robbins|website=www.classic-country-song-lyrics.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awardsandshows.com/features/grammy-awards-1971-220.html|title=Grammy Award Nominees 1971 - Grammy Award Winners 1971|website=www.awardsandshows.com}}</ref>
* In the [[Captain Beefheart]] song "My Human Gets Me Blues" from the album ''[[Trout Mask Replica]]'' (1969), he sings “I saw you baby, dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress.”
* Japanese girl group [[AKB48]] used gingham as a general theme for their 2012 single "[[Gingham Check]]."
* The [[XTC]] song "Pink Thing" contains the line "If you could only see the way the gingham swirls."

== See also ==
{{Commonscat}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [[British country clothing]]
* [[Madras (cloth)|Madras cloth]]
* [[Railroad stripe]]
* [[Gamucha]]
* [[Keffiyeh]]
* [[Tartan]]
* [[Tattersall (cloth)]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* Kadolph, Sara J., ed.: ''Textiles'', 10th edition, Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2007, {{ISBN|0-13-118769-4}}
* [http://histclo.com/mat/mat-ging.html Material for Boys' Clothing: Gingham Vichy] (optionally requires username and password to display images; press cancel until the box is gone)

{{fabric}}

[[Category:Woven fabrics]]
[[Category:Textile patterns]]
[[Category:Tartan]]