Leopards, Jaguars, and Cheetahs...Oh My!

With all of the stunning animal prints this season, I have found myself wondering what's what?!  After doing a little research, I have noticed many people (including top designers) don't really know.  It amazed me that almost everything is sold as leopard when in fact a lot of the pieces out there are cheetah and jaguar, too.  Below are quick easy ways to tell the difference between the three animal prints.

Jaguars have a tawny brown base coat
covered with black spots, called
rosettes. The large rosettes have small
black dots in the middle.

Leopards are also distinguished by
their rosettes, however they are smaller
and more tightly spaced with no
black dots in the middle of the rosettes.

Cheetahs have a much simpler
pattern consisting of solid black round/oval
spots that are not arranged into rosettes. 

          All three make beautiful clutches...

       Top to Bottom: Roberto Cavalli, Blair Ritchey, Traci