iStyle: It’s hip to be square

Tired of tartan? Then trade it in for a more minimal take on checks, says Naomi Attwood

Fashion, eh? For such a visual medium, it has a painstaking method of naming things. Only the paint industry can match it – and we all know the excitement of watching that particular product in action. We have a glossary of terms such as “windowpane check” – the accepted moniker for graphic, oversized markings that aren’t complicated enough to be classified as tartan or plaid.

The term windowpane, it must be admitted, is a rather lovely one, at once painting a picture in the imagination and being ever so slightly archaic and old-fashioned. It even imparts a touch of whimsy; conjuring, as it does, the idea of gorgeous, rattling sash windows in a Georgian property with original period features rather than the double-glazed uPVC ones that the majority of people live with. How nice.

What’s even nicer about windowpane check is how it actually looks. It’s the kind of print endorsed by that pair of Annies of Eighties good taste – Hall (of the Woody Allen film) and Lennox (of Eurythmics) – which is to say, wearers of masculine tailoring but with such panache, as well as naturally great bone structure, that it actually looks better than womenswear.

And, according to the hallowed bumper book of fashion rules, anything oversized, such as sunglasses or platform shoes, makes you look smaller by comparison. And, seeing how Chanel, Sportmax, Marni and J W Anderson are all endorsing the look for spring/summer, the case is as good as closed.