Why Do We Associate Stripes with Sailors?

The Patient Photographer and I have an upcoming sea-themed Christmas party to go to. He will be unleashing Captain Haddock from Tintin to the masses, meanwhile I am keeping my costume a secret from the blogosphere until it is fully finished. PP hit gold with a faux Navy Admiral hat. Its stunning gold braided goodness inspired me to break out some nautical stripes.

Which leads to the question - why do we associate stripes with (a) nautical pasttimes and (b) the French? This question brought out the girly swot in me and I managed to dig out Keith Stephenson, author of The Communicating with Pattern: Stripes from the inna-netz.

Accordingly, 18th century French onion merchants who sailed to England wore striped shirts while selling their tubers. An early form of advertising and branding, according to Mr Stephenson. However, the history of stripes, sailing and France go back even further to the 17th century when junior French naval recruits wore striped t-shirts for the first three months of their training, thus distinguishing them from senior members of crew. Even more of an aside, stripes as a pattern have an interesting place in cultural history given that they are the pattern traditionally ascribed to outsiders in a community - prisoners, come instantly to mind, particularly those who were in Nazi concentration camps. To learn more:

Download a chapter of Keith Stephenson's book here.
Read a review of the book The Devil's Cloth: A History of Stripes byMichel Pastoureau here.

♥ Top from Huffer ♥ Skirt is thrifted ♥ Shoes from Mi Piaci ♥ Wrist hardware from Diva and thrifted

Here's D&G getting in on the stripes-nautical-Gallist-chic thing and twisting these traditional associations around with a bit of metallic pleated fabric and sheer maxi skirts. No doubt the emblazoned and highly-visible anchors, boats and rope knots are meant to be ironic. I highly recommend watching this runway show because of the sheer pleasure of listening to Grace Jones' remix of La Vie en Rose while watching the fabric flutter and shimmy down the reflective black runway. Enthralling.



Source is Dolce & Gabbana.com