The Most Frequently Asked Fashion Questions

By definition: Houndstooth is a two-toned textile pattern, Scottish by origin, characterized by broken checks, and most often designed in black and white. The print does in fact have something to do with its canine-sounding name — which was inspired by the uneven shape of a hound dog's teeth.

Why it matters: The old-school pattern, which made its first real appearance in the 1930s, is having a comeback. Christian Dior featured the pattern in its Spring '12 couture lineup, Rachel Zoe and Stella McCartney sent it down their runways last Fall, and Christian Louboutin has made a fierce heel with it.