Glen plaid (short forGlen Urquhartplaid), also known asGlenurquhart check orPrince of Wales check, is awoollen fabric with a woventwill design of small and largechecks.[1] It is usually made of black/grey and white, or with more muted colours, particularly with two dark and two light stripes alternating with four dark and four light stripes, which creates a crossing pattern of irregular checks.[2] Glen plaid as a woven pattern may be extended to cottonshirting and other non-woollen fabrics.
The name is taken from theGlenurquhart Estate inInverness-shire, Scotland, where the checked pattern was first used during the 1840s by theCountess of Seafield[3] to fit out hergamekeepers,[1] though the name 'Glen plaid' does not appear before 1926.[4]
Glen plaid is also known as the Prince of Wales check, as it was first made famous byKing Edward VII when he wasPrince of Wales.[5] The pattern was later popularized byKing Edward VIII when he was Prince of Wales.[6] In other words, despite its internationally known name (Frenchprince de Galles, Spanishpríncipe de Gales, Italianprincipe di Galles, etc.), the Prince of Wales check is not a Welsh pattern but a Scottish one.
Pee-wee Herman was famous for his light-grey Glen plaidsuit, and U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan was considered "unpresidential" in a gray-and-blue Glen plaid suit on a European trip in 1982.[7] In addition,Cary Grant wore a grey suit in a subtle Glen plaid during the 1959 American spy thriller filmNorth by Northwest.
Alan Stanford wore a single-breastedblazer of Glen plaidtweed in the1999 film based onGeorge Orwell'sAnimal Farm.
Matt Smith wore a single-breasted blazer of brown Glen plaid tweed when playing theEleventh Doctor in theDoctor Who episodeA Christmas Carol.
