The tweed you need

Skirt 389byRichardTylerat Selfridges; jacket 140 at PaulandJoe39Ledbury Road W11; shoes 255 at Moschino, 28 Conduit Street W1 THE fashion lexicon is full of curious terminologies: dipdyed, ring-spun, bias-cut, shearling, dobby, seersucker. For those of you with more interesting things to do than study spoddy fashion dictionaries, these last three are types of material. Lord knows where they got their names from. They don't seem to bear any relevance to the fabrics they describe. They sound like made-up words straight from the mouth of Pikachu.

The reason I'm preoccupied with this subject right now is because of this autumn's predilection for dogtooth. Dog-tooth is everywhere. Dog-tooth is the new black. It's last season's denim. It's the season before's leather. And every time I see a piece of dog-tooth hanging on a rail I wonder what happened to the person who christened it with that nonsense name. I guess they were a dog lover. Or a tooth lover. Apparently dogtooth is so-called because the checks are shaped like dog's teeth. Eh? Must be a strange looking dog. And why is there a type of check called hound's-tooth? Are dogs' teeth different from hounds' teeth? Or do the terms both refer to the same check?

It's usually the music industry which has a reputation for being full of train spotters.

Well, pardon me for being the Nick Hornby of fashion, but I like to know my dog-tooth from my gun club from my Prince of Wales. In polite society - or at least the pedantic society I move in - you cannot afford to get these things wrong. Oh no.

Here's how to wear it right, at any rate. If you're adventurous, you should aim for lots of mismatched checks piled on top of each other. Some of the boldest come from MaxMara, Marcus Lupfur and John Bartlett - we'll call them elephant's-tooth. While there is nothing more classic than smart black and white, don't overlook your coloured checks during the coming months. These are far less Eighties- looking, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how fondly you remember that illustrious decade. Veronique Branquinho's brown and cream dog-tooth vest is a less stark option - plus you gain extra cred points for wearing clothes by an unpronounceable Belgian designer.

Tweed is also big this season. Now, there's a lovely warm word that sounds like it should.

Pick of the bunch is by Dries Van Noten: still Belgian, but far less unpronounceable, his autumn collection includes unstructured, earthy skirts and jackets that look casual and countryish. Van Noten proves that this season's vogue for tweeds and checks doesn't necessarily need to herald a return to tailored power dressing. Which is a relief for all of us, save those with a penchant for Joan Collins.

PICTURE CAPTIONS

Above: coat 575 at MaxMara 153 New Bond Street, W1; shirt 280 by Clements Ribeiro at Liberty; skirt 99 by Philosophy, Alberta Ferretti at 205 Sloane Street, SW1; hairclip 40 by Cherry Chau at Harvey Nichols; felt hat, 192, Stephen Jones, 36 Great Queen Street, WC2 Topright: jacket 525, tie 35andblouse 195, allby Jasper Conran at Selfridges; mini skirt 120 by Marcus Constable at Tokio, 309 Brompton Road, SW3; hat 204 at Steven Jones, 36 Great Queen St, WC2; scarf 180 by Luella at Tokio Right: Blouse255, vest 120 andtrousers145, all byVeronique Branquinho at HarveyNichols; handbag 195 by Miu Miu at Harvey Nichols; hairclip 55 by Cherry Chau at Harvey Nichols Left: blouse 230 andskirt 210, bothbyDriesVan Noten at Harvey Nichols; jacket 545 by Marni at Harvey Nichols

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