Maybe you were under the impression that the buttonup-shirt-wearing segment of the male population achieved peak gingham in the summer of 2014. That season was marked by the debut of an Instagram account, @thatjcrewginghamshirt, which was part creep-shot, street-style blog, part treasure trove of anthropological data. The site documented the ubiquity of that J Crew gingham shirt, the blue-and-white checks that defined 20-somethings’ preferred tribal garb, either while drinking happy- hour beers in Murray Hill or juice smoothies in the Marina District. If you followed the media coverage of the account, you might have supposed that gingham was overexposed, played out and due for a little rest at the back of the cultural closet.

