The Picnic Print You'll Wear All Spring

If you’re still finding it hard to associate gingham with anything but Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, it’s time to rethink your position.

The print may once have been paired with images of Oklahoma! Southern Belles and wholesome girls-next-door but Brigitte Bardot gave the checkered pattern an edge when she wore a pink gingham dress down the aisle at her wedding to actor Jacques Charrier in 1959.

The following decade saw gingham shirts made by brands like Fred Perry, Lambretta and Ben Sherman and worn with pride by mods, while Barbara Hulanicki launched her swinging '60s brand Biba off the back of an early gingham A-line design in 1963. Since then, often as a nod to nostalgia, gingham has made its way in and out of fashion.

This season, however, it landed firmly on the catwalks of fashion month: at Pringle of Scotland we saw form-fitting sundresses and football-inspired long-sleeved shirts, while at Dolce & Gabbana cute cropped jackets with Matador-style ruffles were paired with embellished skirts. Erika Cavallini gave us proportion play with frilled gingham, and Paul Smith super-sized the print in pinks and oranges. House of Holland made pastel work of the pattern, clashing varying sizes across jackets, shoes and skirts, and flashes of check were glimpsed in Rahul Mishra's gingham coat linings.

While the fabric looks very much at home on a beach, with a straw basket and some cat eye sunglasses, in the slides ahead you’ll find workwear- and festival-appropriate gingham as worn by our favourite ladies on Instagram. Click through to see how to style the print of spring 2017.