How to Dress Up (or Down) Gingham with Jewelry

It’s no coincidence that we associate gingham with outdoor dining. Originally a fabric reserved for tablecloths, gingham has made a major splash in fashion. Designers began using it on clothing as early as 1939 when Judy Garland wore an apron-like blue and white gingham dress as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” 

One year later, Katharine Hepburn’s socialite character in “The Philadelphia Story” wore a tea-length dress made of red and white gingham. In recent years, the fabric has made a comeback on the runways of designers such as Altuzarra, Carolina Herrera and Marc Jacobs.

At Fortune & Frame, we were eager to embrace gingham as a go-to summer look. It’s made of lightweight cotton, but can be easily dressed up or down, to match your mood.

To us, the perfect take on the trend is a gingham shirtdress. It’s casual, utilitarian, and feminine, without being overly dressy. Shirt dresses also have the added benefit of being flattering for all shapes and sizes. Because gingham can be either striking or subdued, it’s perfect for both a day of self-reflection at the park or for more social outings, like a day out with friends.

We paired a brown-and-white, full-length gingham shirtdress from Asos with a handful of jewelry styles from our collection to see what works best with the pattern. Here’s a photo recap of what we discovered during an outing at Central Park, along with some tips on how to style Fortune & Frame’s pieces with your gingham. 

The first piece we chose is our Honeycomb Fortune Locket. Comprised of delicate octagonal shapes, it opens to reveal whatever message is resonating with you in the moment. 

This long necklace skims the dress and buttons perfectly, and sits alongside the tie on the waist. We were pleased to realize that the shapes in the necklace didn’t compete with the pattern of the dress, and instead complemented it. The longer necklace also allowed the dress collar to stand alone while adding a relaxed vibe. 

We styled Alessia’s hair in a sleek high bun to showcase her gold Fortune Cookie Earrings These earrings come in two different sizes and three different finishes (gold, sterling silver and rose-gold). 

Our subtle, yet chic Fortune Cookie Rings in gold and silver polish off the look.

To bring the dress to its maximum style potential, we also paired it with our Key of F Trio, a vintage-inspired necklace in the F&F collection. The keys were originally designed as mechanisms to open and close our fortune lockets and frames. When we realized that a basic clasp would work better, we preserved the gorgeous keys as a nod to the fact that sometimes no matter how hard you want something to work, it’s better when it doesn’t. 

Now, three dangling key pendants, set in sterling silver, gold and rose gold vermeil, grace a chic sterling silver snake chain, creating a stunning, eye-catching piece. 

We liked the idea of unrolling the dresses sleeves and adding simple tan booties for an effortless look. For a bracelet-forward look, this dress also looks great with the sleeves folded to create a chic cuff and reveal your wrists.

Of course, this is just one outfit, but our jewelry--just like gingham--has the unique quality of being easy to play up or play down, so it pairs well with any gingham ensemble you choose. A red-and-white gingham blouse, gingham pants or a gingham wrap skirt are just a few options available right now at retailers like Forever 21, Revolve and Shopbop. 

A playful gingham piece and some F&F jewelry are perfect for your next summer picnic, turning the tables on gingham’s tablecloth history.