How to Wear a Checked Coat Without It Wearing You

A checked coat is a decision rather than a neutral, and that is the whole difficulty with it. Buy the wrong one and it wears you. Buy the right one and it does most of the work of getting dressed for the next five years.

The thing that separates them is the scale of the check, not the colour. A large check reads as a statement and needs quiet underneath it. A fine check behaves almost like a plain cloth from a few feet away, and only shows itself close up. Get that judgement right and everything else is easy.

At a glance

• Scale matters more than colour. Large checks make the statement, fine checks behave like a neutral
• Keep what is underneath plain. One pattern in an outfit is usually enough
• A longer check coat carries a bold pattern better than a short one
• Houndstooth is the safest way in if you have never worn a check
• Expect roughly £180 to £399 for a check coat or jacket that will last

• Why the scale of the check decides everything
• Two checked coats and three jackets in the shop
• What to wear underneath
• Which check suits you
• Frequently asked questions

Why the scale of the check decides everything

Hold two check coats up together and the difference is obvious straight away. One announces itself across a room. The other you have to walk up to.

A large check works best on a longer coat, where the pattern has room to repeat properly. On a short jacket the same check gets cut off at the hem and the eye cannot make sense of it. That is why a bold check coat often looks better than a bold check jacket, even in the same cloth.

A fine check does the opposite. Houndstooth, a small glen check or a close herringbone all read as texture rather than pattern from any distance, which makes them far easier to live with. They also sit under a scarf without fighting it.

Colour is the last thing to think about, not the first. A burgundy or a grey check in a fine weave is more wearable than a navy one in a very large scale, whatever the colours suggest.

Two checked coats and three jackets in the shop

These are the ones in the shop at the moment, and between them they cover both ends of the scale question. All are Vilagallo, who do this better than most.

• The checked fringe coat. A long windowpane check in beige, navy and brown that falls to mid-calf, with a knotted fringe along the hem. The colours are quiet enough to wear over almost anything. It is the fringe people notice.
• The grey and navy check jacket. A middling scale in quiet colours, which makes it the most useful of the five. It goes over almost everything already in your wardrobe and does not need thinking about.
• The burgundy houndstooth jacket. Houndstooth is a fine check, so this reads as a rich colour with texture in it rather than a pattern. A very good first check if you have never owned one.
• The Italian check jacket. The check mixes green, burgundy and tan. Cut to the waist, it sits neatly over a plain jumper and jeans.
• The pink check double breasted coat. A proper double breasted shape in a pink, black and white check, with a printed lining nobody else sees.

The whole Vilagallo range sits together online, and there is more in women's coats if a check is not what you are after.

What to wear underneath

Keep it plain. A checked coat is already doing the interesting part, and a second pattern underneath makes both of them harder to look at.

• A plain knit in a colour pulled out of the check itself. Look at the thinnest line in the pattern, not the dominant one
• A crisp shirt in white or cream, which lifts a dark check the way nothing else does
• Straight or tapered trousers in a solid colour, so the eye goes to the coat and then stops
• A scarf only if the coat is a fine check. On a large check it becomes a third thing competing for attention

If you do want pattern underneath, make it something you only glimpse. A printed blouse with the coat worn open does this well, because the print appears as a strip rather than a block.

Which check suits you

Scale again, and this time in relation to you rather than the coat. A large check sits better on a longer frame or a longer coat, because it needs the repeat to make sense. On a shorter coat or a smaller frame the same pattern gets crowded.

A fine check is the more forgiving choice by a distance. Houndstooth in particular has been worn by everybody for a hundred years for exactly that reason, and it does not date the way a fashion check can.

The honest answer is that this is very hard to judge from a photograph. A check coat needs trying on, because the pattern changes completely once it is on a body rather than flat. We are on the high street in Shaftesbury and there is no appointment needed.

There is more in women's jackets if you want the shorter shapes together in one place.

Browse the coats

Frequently asked questions

Is a checked coat a good investment or will it date?

It depends entirely on the scale of the check. A fine check such as houndstooth, a small glen check or a close herringbone has been in and out of fashion for a century without ever really leaving, and a coat in one of those will still look right in ten years. A very large or very fashion-led check is more of a moment, and you should buy it knowing that. If this is your only check coat, go finer. If you already own a plain wool coat and want something with more character, the bold one earns its place.

What colour goes with a checked coat?

Pull a colour out of the check itself, and take it from one of the finer lines rather than the dominant shade. A grey and navy check will usually have a thread of something else running through it, and that thread is the colour to pick up in a jumper or a scarf. Failing that, cream and white are reliable under almost any check, and they lift a dark one considerably. What to avoid is matching the dominant colour exactly, which flattens the whole thing and makes the coat look like it came as a set.

Can you wear a checked coat with patterned clothes underneath?

You can, but it needs care and it is easier to get wrong than right. The rule that works is that the second pattern should only ever be glimpsed rather than seen in full. A printed blouse under an open coat shows as a narrow strip and reads as a nice detail. The same blouse with the coat unbuttoned and pushed back becomes a competing block of pattern. If in doubt, keep everything underneath plain and put the interest into a bag or a piece of jewellery instead.

What is the difference between houndstooth and a check?

Houndstooth is a check, just a particular one. It is a small broken check with a pointed, jagged shape to each repeat, traditionally woven in two colours, and it originated in Scottish woven cloth. Because the repeat is small and the edges are broken rather than straight, it reads as texture from a distance where a straight-lined check still reads as a grid. That is why houndstooth tends to feel more wearable to people who think checks are not for them. It is doing the same job with a softer voice.

Can I try a checked coat on in the shop?

Please do, and with a check coat it genuinely matters more than usual. A pattern behaves completely differently on a body than it does hanging flat or photographed on a screen, and the scale that looks manageable in a picture can be much bolder in person. We are at 30 High Street in Shaftesbury, open Monday to Saturday, and you do not need to book. Bring the jumper you would most likely wear underneath if you can, because that answers the colour question faster than anything we can tell you.