The Specific Way Everyone Stylish Is Wearing Plaid For Fall 2025

If you're an eagle-eyed fashion fan scanning the New York Fashion Week street style trends you can start wearing in fall 2025, you'll notice one craze in particular checking in as the look to sport: plaid. The pattern has always carried more baggage than most fabrics — once a marker of Scottish kinship, later a badge of counterculture on punk stages, then the prim and proper uniform of schoolgirls. In time, it became the rugged staple of lumberjacks, and eventually the lazy flannel of American suburbia. So, it's safe to say the pattern certainly has a storied past.

Now, in fall 2025, plaid has entered yet another phase. As personal stylist and image consultant Cynthia Kennedy told Women exclusively, "Plaid for fall isn't new" — after all, elevated tartan was the fashion move for winter 2024, too. "But this year it's showing up with unexpected twists, like oversized graphic checks, different color combinations, and even mixed plaids in one outfit."

This season, it's clear the stylish set is treating plaid as a way to stretch proportion and test color theory. A wool buzzing with tartan can change the temperature of an otherwise neutral coat, whilst a neon tartan overcoat could reimagine tradition as pop art. As Kennedy guided us, "One piece, like a bold plaid coat or a scarf with vibrant checks, will instantly make your outfit look more seasonal."

If there was any doubt about plaid's dominance this season, the A-list has already confirmed what the runways predicted. At Louis Vuitton's Fall/Winter 2025 show in Paris, "Bridgerton" breakout star Phoebe Dynevor's flared plaid dress pitched a prep-pulls-punk perspective. Meanwhile, Alicia Vikander at the same event countered with a red, white, and blue tweed mini.

Beyond the front row, the pattern is showing up in unexpected registers. Emily Ratajkowski made a case for grunge-meets-errand chic in London, pairing an oversized brown plaid button-down shirt with a leather jacket, black flared leggings, and Ugg mules perfect for the cooling temperatures. Kate Middleton — a famously (or infamously, depending on your fashion stance) a careful dresser — also, took a formal turn in Alessandra Rich. In a gray tartan dress, with puffed sleeves, pilgrim collar, and pearl buttons, the Princess of Wales proved that even the most conservative closets can't resist plaid's pull.

Even Taylor Swift added plaid to her date-night rotation this fall. Out with Travis Kelce, Brittany and Patrick Mahomes, and Kane and Katelyn Brown, she wore a Simkhai co-ord compiled of vest and miniskirt in a desert tone, offset with accessories from Chanel and Gucci (of course!). Of all the fall 2025 fashion trends you'll be seeing everywhere, plaid looks poised to checkmate the rest.