Aristocrats had begun to wear vertical stripes to represent their superiority since it carried status-enhancing value, however by Queen Victoria’s son wearing this striped uniform, the connotative lines were blurred between horizontal and vertical stripes. They were easy to put on quickly, due to the fact that they were buttonless and they symbolized an inferior status to their captain and lead officers. Sailors had been wearing these horizontally striped uniforms for multiple reasons, firstly it was easy to spot shipmates who had fallen overboard.
However, it was when Queen Victoria dressed her son Albert in a sailor suit to board the Royal Yacht in 1846 that this fashion style took a popular turn in the fashion world. The stripe also had already become a symbol of the 1789 French Revolution in the folded rosette worn on their hats displaying the colours red, white and blue intertwined together to signify military honours. So when did the switch occur where this pattern went from a fashion nightmare to fashion style? The 1783 American Revolution called for a flag designed which included 13 red and white stripes to demonstrate the 13 British colonies that fought for freedom and a rebirth from England’s power. “I got stripes, stripes around my shoulders This pattern remains an active archetype in what we believe prisoners are wearing which is dominated in popular media.Ĭonsider Johnny Cash’s famous lyrics from his song ‘ I Got Stripes’ which truly demonstrates how much of a burden this pattern had. However, many American states decided to abolish the uniform in as early as the 20th century as it was seen as a badge of shame. Stripes were even deemed ‘the devil’s cloth’ since captured convicts would wear the pattern as uniforms which could be easily spotted and identified if he happened to escape. Local archives even say that in 1310 Northern France, a cobbler was condemned to death for simply being spotted wearing the pattern. Only the social outcasts, such as prostitutes, jugglers, cripples, and clowns wore the pattern because it is highly distinguishable.
The funny thing about our popular striped pattern is that there was a time in the Middle Ages that it was considered a perilous act. Which begs the question – how did this zebra-like pattern become part of everyone’s closet in the first place? From casually walking your dog in the park to an elite black-tie affair – you can never go wrong with stripes. It basically is the bread and butter of fashion design it is one of the few patterns a 2-year-old and an 80-year-old share and is worn by all sexual orientations in all dress styles. Featured Graphic by: Steve Nguyen Take a look in your closet and ask yourself how many articles with stripes do you see? I have four shirts and a drawer filled with striped socks that are all missing their twin.
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