The argyle (occasionally argyll) pattern is made of diamonds or lozenges. The word is sometimes used to refer to an individual diamond in the design but more commonly refers to the overall pattern. Most argyle layouts contain layers of overlapping motifs, adding a sense of three-dimensionality, movement, and texture. Typically, there is an overlay of intercrossing diagonal lines on solid diamonds.

The argyle pattern is derived from the tartan

Tartan

Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...

 of Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Highland clans, their lands were in Argyll and the chief of the clan became the Earl and later Duke of Argyll.-Origins:...

, of Argyll

Argyll

Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...

 in western Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, used for kilts and plaid

Belted plaid

The belted plaid is a large blanket-like piece of fabric which is wrapped around one's body with the material pleated or, more accurately, loosely gathered and secured at the waist by means of a belt...

s, and from the patterned socks worn by Scottish Highlanders since at least the 17th century. (See illustrations in History of the kilt

History of the kilt

The History of the Kilt stretches back to at least the end of the 16th century. The kilt first appeared as the belted plaid or great kilt, a full length garment whose upper half could be worn as a cloak draped over the shoulder, or brought up over head as a cloak...

) These were generally known as "tartan hose".

Argyle knitwear became fashionable in England and then the USA after the first world war. Pringle of Scotland

Pringle of Scotland

Pringle of Scotland is a luxury knitwear manufacturer and importer. The brand is worn by the likes of Madonna, DB7 , Nicole Kidman, Sophie Dahl, Claudia Schiffer, the television character Alan Partridge and British bands such as The Kooks, Dirty Pretty Things and The Twang...

 popularised the design, helped by its identification with the Duke of Windsor.
Pringle's website says that "the iconic Pringle argyle design was developed" in the 1920s. The duke, like others, used this pattern for golf clothing: both for jerseys and for the long socks needed for the plus-fours trouser fashion of the day.

Payne Stewart

Payne Stewart

William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42....

 (1957–1999), who won the U.S. Open and a PGA championship, was known and loved by fans for his bright and "flashy" dress; he wore tams, knickerbockers, and argyle socks.

It has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last few years, due to its adoption by Stuart Stockdale

Stuart Stockdale

Stuart Stockdale is an English fashion designer, born in Carlisle, Cumbria. He lives and works in London.-Biography:Stuart studied fashion design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and went on to do a Master's degree at the Royal College of Art...

 in collections produced by luxury clothing manufacturer, Pringle of Scotland, as well as the prominence of the pattern in high-end pret-a-porter American fashion. Argyle socks are worn by revivalist golfers playing with hickory

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...

 clubs in the pre-1930 style.

As a knitting

Knitting

Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...

 pattern, argyle is generally accomplished using the intarsia technique

Intarsia (knitting)

Intarsia is a knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours. As with the woodworking technique of the same name, fields of different colours and materials appear to be inlaid in one another, but are in fact all separate pieces, fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.Unlike other...

. Argyle patterns are occasionally woven

Weaving

Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...

.

Some sports teams use bright, contemporary interpretations of the argyle pattern: for example, the Garmin-Slipstream professional cycling team, nicknamed the "Argyle Armada", and the Norwegian men's curling team at the 2010 Winter Olympics.