Stripes

Stripes are always in fashion, in the modern age - yes, but if we go back a few centuries through the history, for the Catholic Church it was a big fashion no-no!

During the first Crusades, a group of Carmelite monks moved from Palestine to France. They wore capes with brown and white stripes, said to be inspired by the prophet Elijah, who was said to have disappeared into heaven on a chariot of fire, leaving behind only a cape. But all the way to Paris, those same robes become a problem for a group of monks. Mocked and attacked everywhere, the monks incurred the wrath of Pope Alexander IV who ordered them to renounce their robes, which they refused.

25 years of threats, promises and negotiations followed, in which 10 popes participated. The dispute lasted until 1295, when Pope Boniface VIII issued a ban on the wearing of striped clothes by all religious orders. The stripes represented everything bad, and whoever wore them was considered dishonest, deviant, serving the devil. In art, stripes were worn by prostitutes, executioners, traitors... Servants and court fools wore striped cloth, but not voluntarily, but according to official orders.

In a painting from the 12th century, God gives Adam and Eve striped clothes before they are expelled from Paradise. In 1310, in the French city of Rouen, a man was sentenced to death because he was allegedly caught wearing striped clothes. But it wasn't just striped clothes that had a bad reputation - animals weren't spared either. Medieval authors included zebras, which at that time they only heard about and never saw, in Devil's bestiaries (bestiaries were collections of pictures, descriptions and stories about animals). As time went on, the hatred towards stripes subsided. In the Victorian period, many ladies were caught on camera wearing striped creations.

Once banned in France, in the 18th century stripes were reborn and became one of its symbols. French t-shirts and pullovers "La marinière" are also described as Breton stripes. The Breton stripe is synonymous with the region of Brittany in France (La Bretagne) where the French Navy was based.

In 1858, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Admiral Amelin, issued an official statement in which he said: "The uniform will have 21 stripes, the white stripes should be twice as wide as the blue ones." The exact measurements are 20mm for the white stripes and 10mm for the blue ones. Supposedly, the number of stripes was supposed to represent each Napoleonic victory over the British, but the harsher truth was that this pattern made it easier to spot sailors who would find themselves at sea. Until then, the striped uniform was worn only by officers, but it soon became popular among fishermen, shipowners and other port workers. In 1923, when Brittany designed their flag, they decided on Breton stripes, black and white, as evidence of how intrinsically connected it is to the region.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the stripes together with the stars represented freedom. The American flag, which appeared in 1777, symbolized the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Striped fabric also played a role in heraldry. The heraldic use of striped cloth for medals denoted civil and military honors with striped ribbons, and the color, width and placement of the stripes were precisely determined by the regulations. In some cases, the honor includes the right to wear a wide belt with a striped ribbon in the same colors as the ribbon of the medal itself. The ribbon in a tricolor pattern of red, white and blue, often folded into a rosette that is worn as an ornament on a cassock, became a powerful symbol of the French Revolution.

Many manufacturers have produced Breton stripes, but Saint James, based in the village with the same name near Mont Saint-Michel, can claim to be the most authentic, they've been making stripes since the 1880s. The company continues to supply navy pullovers and sweaters to the French Navy and Army today, and provides the same quality for its consumer collections. Their status was strengthened by France itself when it awarded the brand EPV (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) status, a national recognition that only 43 brands of haute couture and ready-to-wear for traditional skills have received.

Only 10 women possess the skills to repair or remove any defects of Breton pullovers, and the training takes two years. The brand is privately owned and managed by 300 employees. In addition to being called Breton, the striped sailor jersey has acquired many names over the years, including la mariniere (the sailor), le pull marin (the sailor's sweater), tricot raie (striped knit), and le chandail, which translates as sweater. Today, real Breton stripes are produced only by the three main companies Saint James, Armorlux and Orcival, but there is also the Breton shirt.

In addition to the navy, stripes were also recognizable as prison uniforms. The origins of these uniforms can be traced back to the Auburn prison system in New York in the 1820s. Prisoners were obliged to be silent non-stop, to be tied to each other when walking, and the stripes on their clothes represented prison bars. On the one hand, railroads were a symbol of freedom for sailors who sailed around the world and imprisonment for prisoners who lived in cells.

Although popular among the navy, Breton stripes did not appear in the fashion world until 1917, when Coco Chanel, inspired by nautical uniforms, created a collection that included Breton textiles. Her garçonne (boyish) look, a modification of men's clothing for the female form, forever changes the casual female fashion style. Women began to wear trousers, freed themselves from the tight corsets of the Belle era, and enjoyed an androgynous style that celebrated female independence and freedom.

Coco said: "Luxury has to be comfortable, otherwise it's not luxury."

In the 50s and 60s, stripes were popularized by the Beatnik counter-culture. The Beatnik generation was against materialism. The counter-culture of the post-war years was focused on issues of freedom, turning to the inwardness of the spirit, and not on what they considered the "shallowness" of material goods. It seems to me that 2021 lacks a bit of Beatnik energy.

French cinematography, fueled by the New wave (Nouvelle Vague), embraced the sailor look wholeheartedly. Breton stripes graced movie screens and became synonymous with the times. Artists and actors have been photographed countless times in casual combinations with Breton stripes.

James Dean, Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn are just some of the icons who were so often seen in the simplest stripes. How many photos have you seen of Picasso in Breton stripes? Well, countless😊. They are becoming the go-to look for all artists.

But in the history of fashion, another group of people appears as an association with stripes, namely gangsters who wore pinstriped suits, so that style was transferred to the movie screens. Such suits represented their financial status and power. In combination with fedoras and shirts with a white collar, a cigarette in your mouth and a ready Thommy 😊 .

In 1945, Alfred Hitchcock made the film noir "Spellbound" with Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck in the main roles, in which the main actor has a phobia of lines on a white background, so a man with a real fear of stripes.

In the 20th century, stripes became a key part of fashion iconography for many brands. The pioneer was Adidas, which in 1928 presented a recognizable logo with three stripes on sneakers worn by athlete Lina Radke.

Although ubiquitous in fashion, each designer has made stripes unique.

At the end of the 60s, Sonia Rykiel designs eccentric pullovers that become a hit, ending up on the cover of Elle France. At the end of the 80s, the American designer Tommy Hilfiger further emphasized the power of red, white and blue stripes. Associated with the colors of the flag, they have become a true symbol of the American dream. A Britishman who also wanted to make his mark, Sir Paul Smith discovered in the nineties a hyper-dyed, delicate version of stripes, nestled between classic tailoring, humor and design appeal. For almost 70 years, the Italian brand Missoni has remained recognizable with its zig zag stripes and patterns. The Italian fashion house Gucci with its red and green striped logo undoubtedly attracts attention on any piece it is placed on. Hypebeast streetstyle brand Off white has been dominating for several years with their striped logo on all clothing items, securing their place in the striped empire. But the Frenchman Jean Paul Gaultier remained the most faithful and popular marinier ambassador, because throughout his career stripes are part of almost every collection, and they are also immortalized on his perfumes.

Comme des Garçons, a Japanese brand founded in Paris, has been producing striped t-shirts and shirts in various colors for years, which must have their heart logo.

In 2011, Nike created striped jerseys for the French national football team as an ode to la marinière, and Karl Lagerfeld photographed the campaign that followed the sale of the same.

From the time when Prada didn't sell useless nylon bags, I single out the s/s 2011 collection, where stripes were found on all the pieces and even on the beautiful faux fur shawls - I think of them every winter!

In 2014, the Italian fashion duo Dolce & Gabbana presented a high fashion (alta moda) collection on Capri where the creations were a combination of Sicilian aesthetics and stripes. In their next collections, stripes run through as a synonym for summer. The striped Sicily bag is "to die for".

They are the inspiration for many fashion editorials, whether they are photographed at sea or in the studio, they are effective in all environments, and as the designer of the IBM logo said: "Stripes attract attention."

They have been seen many times on different covers and catwalks in different decades.

Today, brands such as Petit Bateau, the French fashion house for the whole family, and Sunnei, the Italian label of Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, which represents modern street style, continue the passion for stripes in different ways, one focused on family styles and the other on hypebeast culture. In Croatia, the Aqua brand makes beautiful striped pieces, even the Borovo brand's Startas sneakers,a Yugoslavian staple, got their own striped version. This brand used to be found in Budva and Kotor, but I'm not sure if those stores still exist.

In New York, a great Bosnian woman fighter - Behida Dolic creates dresses and tops that are on my wishlist, probably the only brand for which I would say it doesn't matter how much it costs. And yes, one extremely important thing about Behida's designs, all dresses and skirts have pockets!!! And nothing makes a woman happy like a dress with pockets!

Stripes are a constant when it comes to men's fashion. Mariner may dominate in summer looks, but warmer versions are not far behind, striped sweaters depending on the color, e.g. navy with white stripes, they contrast brilliantly with no pants. The men's Jacquemus shirt with hand-painted stripes is so fantastic I want it for myself. Thom Brown is one of the younger brands in the world of fashion, but special, eccentric and unique! At the same time, he adores stripes!

Stripes may not be able to look luxurious, but I think that the functionality of the clothes gives the style its luxury, and quality cotton shirts and beautifully woven pullovers surpass those pieces that would instantly look luxurious. Some fashion rules say that everyone can wear stripes, but not everyone can wear all types of stripes (there are over 15 of them, all stripes with different distances and widths have their own name). But some rules are there to be broken, and there isn't much evidence about how horizontal stripes actually make you wider, if you're wide you'll be wide both with stripes and without them (it's funny cause it's true 😊 ).

Stripes always attract the attention of street style photographers, so they are an indispensable part of styling in all fashion week looks.

Blogger Blair Eadie is the queen of color-blocking and combining stripes and prints in a fun way. She stays true to herself and her style, and is one of my favorite bloggers. The real OG.

The author of the book on the history of stripes "The Devil's Cloth", Michel Pastoureau, said when he finished working on that book: "I saw stripes everywhere, at a certain moment, I had to stop" I found myself in that statement, but my eye will always look for stripes 😊.

Researching and looking at hundreds of pictures of famous people wearing stripes, I could not find a single photo of Queen Elizabeth wearing stripes. Whether it's because of their French origin or she just doesn't like them, or the online archive doesn't have that photo, in any case, I discovered a mini-mystery in this completely harmless topic 😊 .

In one of the next posts, I will return to stripes, but in the world of interior design, and get lost again like Waldo 😊 and maybe I'll find out if the Queen wore stripes, who knows...