Ah, the iconic Plaid, with subsets like checks, herringbone, gingham, buffalo, houndstooth and glen plaid. These days the pattern looks richer than ever, coming in all shapes, sizes and colors. We are now seeing plaid in head to toe looks, varying in shades or the mixing plaid colors and materials. Check out the outfits above to give yourself ideas on how to keep adding plaid to your closet.

What is the history of plaid you ask, well, we are happy to oblige. The plaid patterns we know today were originally called Tartan. They harken back thousands of years to days of yore. Tartan described the pattern and color used to differentiate the Scottish clans. Meanwhile in Scotland, plaid was known as a winter cloak that came in the same colors When British and American manufacturers got in on the fun they chose to call the pattern plaid. The symbolic meaning of each distinctive family was then lost to history. Before becoming popular to outsiders, tartan was first adopted by the Scottish military during James Francis Edward Stuart’s rebellion against the English monarchy in 1714 (think bestselling book and popular TV show Outlander).