Have you ever gushed over a piece of animal print – like that awesome faux fur coat in the windows of H&M right now – only to ask yourself, “Wait, is this cheetah or leopard?”
I’ve always wondered what print I was actually wearing, and didn’t truly know the answer until I greased my research elbows and got down to business to reveal the shockingly stark difference between cheetah and leopard prints.
Animal print is undeniably the trend of the season, so it’s only fair that you actually know what animal you’re wearing when someone pays you a compliment.
Read on for my explanation of cheetah, tiger, lion, cow, zebra, giraffe and dalmatian prints. It’s everything you’ve always wanted to know about animal prints, but never knew how or where to learn!
CHEETAH PRINT
Cheetahs have solid black round/oval spots and black “tear lines” that start at their eyes and end toward their mouths. Prints don’t include these tear lines. Note solid spots against a burnt orange foundation.
Vintage 1960’s Cheetah Skirt, $158.
LEOPARD PRINT
Leopards have a pattern of clusters of black and brown spots which look like roses, called rosettes. You can tell the difference between a leopard and cheetah because the leopard’s solid black spots are clustered around a darker brown, forming the “rosettes.” Cheetahs and leopards are so easily confused because while leopards have rosettes, they also have black solid spots, too. It’s the mix that throws designers — and therefore, their customers — off.
Vintage Silk Leopard Wrap Top, $98
TIGER PRINT
Tiger prints are often represented in various colors — wild purple stripes against yellow for a nu-rave look, or red stripes against white for some sporty sass. It doesn’t matter how you alter the colors — the stripes make the tiger pattern more easily identifiable than the cheetah or leopard.
Vintage Tiger Sweater Dress, $42
ZEBRA PRINT
Zebra prints are not crazy zig-zag patterns, which is what you may have an image of in your mind when you think of zebra print. See the image below, which is a correct design interpretation of a zebra print design. Stripes are close and tightly packed together, straight and smooth. If you see a more psychedelic print, you are actually looking at a White Tiger design.
Vintage Faux Zebra Fur Jacket, $69
WHITE TIGER PRINT
White Tiger stripes are a bit crazier, a bit more fun, a bit more … fearless! The stripes are rugged. They zig zag. And they shouldn’t be as tightly packed as the design of a zebra’s black stripes.
Vintage White Tiger Dress, $15
BROWN & WHITE COW PRINT
I think the brown and white cow pattern is truly underrated! I would love to help popularize this pattern, not only because it’s under-the-radar but because it can be worn in a very on-trend Western inspired way.
So the deal with the brow and black cow? The pattern is noticeably different than the black and white cow — if you know what you are looking for.
While the black and white cow has extra large, irregularly shaped black spots scattered along with smaller black spots on a white foundation, the brown and white cow is colored mostly brown on white. You could even reverse the order and say the brown and white cow is white on brown. The pattern below shows the dominance of color in white, but the awesome vintage brown & white cow pattern bag shows how the brown coloring takes precedence in true B&W cow design.
To also note: The brown and white cow is not to be confused with the giraffe brown on tan colors. The B&W cow pattern consists of those quintessential irregular shapes, while the giraffe’s brown spots are rectangular in shape.
White and Tan Cow Print Purse, $42
GIRAFFE PRINT
You can catch a giraffe print by noting the use of similarly sized rectangular shapes clustered tight on a tan background. My research showed that some designers used more circular shapes to create the giraffe pattern.
Vintage Giraffe Shirt Dress, $68
BLACK & WHITE COW PRINT
It’s easy to confuse the black & white cow print with its similar B&W counterpart, the dalmatian pattern. The main difference: A cow pattern has irregular shaped black spots that are various sizes scattered on a white foundation. On the other hand, the dalmatian pattern are smooth ovals of similar size concentrated tight on a white foundation.
Vintage Cow Print Pants by Guess, $70
DALMATIAN PRINT
You can trust that you’re investing in real dalmatian design by noting the oval shape of black spots that are clustered tight and similar in size. Dalmatian spots are clustered tighter than you would see on a giraffe, cow, cheetah, leopard, etc. But don’t be like Cruella De Vil – invest in faux, vintage prints of dalmatian designs.
Vintage Dalmatian Dress, $145
-SAMMY DAVIS
Sammy Davis spends her days doing what any thrift nut loves most: blogging about her totally vintage life on her site, Sammy Davis Vintage, and shooting video that inspires you to pursue your passions on her YouTube channel.