Keeping It in Check
Fall's Biggest Fan
It finally feels like fall in Los Angeles. We just had our first big rain of the season, the light has changed, and the air cooled to the point of actually needing a jacket, at least in the evening. For us Angelenos, that’s an event. We celebrate wearing an extra layer.
I have quite a collection of outerwear, but what I reach for most in LA are wool blazers and tailored jackets. As I scrolled through my coat closet this week for something new to wear, I got excited knowing that this is the moment the browns come out, especially the checked ones. Houndstooth, Prince of Wales, checked wool, this is their moment to shine, they are seasonal without being heavy, polished but casual too.
I never tire of these patterns, even when no trend forecast mentions them. In fact, they’re way beyond trend, this is a classic if there ever was one.
The checked blazer, especially the Prince of Wales pattern traces its lineage to the Scottish Highlands of the 19th century. Originally, checked wools were about identity and practicality. Each Scottish estate developed its own woven pattern, or tweed, to outfit its gamekeepers and hunters, earthy tones that blended into the landscape yet distinguished one estate from another.
When Savile Row tailors began cutting the pattern into sport coats and suits, it evolved from rugged outdoor wear to refined urban tailoring. By the early 20th century, it crossed the Channel into France. Coco Chanel famously borrowed tweeds and checks from British menswear for her women’s suits, transforming what was once country cloth into the wardrobe of chic Parisian women.
By the 1960s and ’70s, designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Ralph Lauren made the Prince of Wales check (and its cousins houndstooth, herringbone, and plaid) a cornerstone of modern tailoring, symbols of classicism and refinement.
Today, the checked wool blazer has become a wardrobe essential, a symbol of tradition. Whether oversized and slouchy or sharply tailored, it belongs in fall wardrobes everywhere. Checks, in all their iterations, remind us that style doesn’t have to feel new or innovative to make an impression.
I particularly love a checked blazer with jeans, but that isn’t to say a checked suit isn’t on my list of “wants”. I also love checked skirts, checked blouses, and pretty much anything that reminds me of the English countryside.
It’s funny how something born for damp fields and hunting parties feels just as right stepping out for coffee in LA. Maybe that’s the beauty of checks, they hold history but never feel dated. Every fall, I reach for one of my checked blazers again, like a familiar ritual I don’t want to outgrow.
Below are some checked blazers I thought were worth a look.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it and sharing it with you.
As always, thank you for being here. Don’t forget to like, comment, and share this post with a friend.
Xx Laurence
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