Horizontal striped shirt - from sailor costumes to classic symbols

The simplicity, closeness makes the shirt over 160 years old loved and durable.

Breton shirt is one of the classic items of the village fad in general and the symbol of French fashion in particular. Over 160 years, Breton shirt is familiar with many generations, regardless of rich, poor, gender, age.

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Breton shirt is a sailor's underwear.

The first plaid shirts appeared in the late 18th century in the Roscoff region, Brittany in northern France. The pattern of white and blue striped textiles is called Breton because it is the language name of the Brittany region. It is also called Marinière (ocean) . Plaid shirts and berets are the usual costumes of fishermen and sailors here.

The fad village took 1858 as a milestone marking the official birth of Breton shirt. In March of that year, the army introduced a uniform for a navy soldier stationed in Brittany. An original shirt has 21 white horizontal lines 2 cm wide and 29 horizontal green 1 cm wide and 14 similar blue horizontal in the arm. According to Brittany legend, the number 21 represents Napoleon's victory over the British. Others claim that blue and white stripes are the identification marks of sailors at sea. Saint James Company, located in Mont Saint-Michel, was responsible for providing this model for fishermen and army at that time. Currently Saint James is still one of the leading Breton producers in France and worldwide.

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Coco Chanel (left) and Jean-Paul Gaultier contribute to bringing horizontal shirts into the fashion village.

From the shirt of the French navy and marine workers, at the hands of Coco Chanel, Breton gradually became the classic model of all time.

In the early years of the 1910s, Coco Chanel put a lot of effort into Biarritz waters - where she later opened the first couture shop in 1915. Here, the designer inspired the sailor shirt into the set. Collection in 1917.

Chanel's first design inspired by Breton is a jacket with a spandex neckline - a material usually used only for men's underwear and sailor shirts. In this way, she freed the women from the tightness in the tight corset. The loose-fitting shirt is the spectacular breakthrough of women's fashion at that time. Chanel said: "Luxury is comfortable. Otherwise, it's not luxurious." The legendary designer also led this revolution by wearing strong striped shirts and pants.

BBC quoted fashion historian Amber Butchart as saying outside Coco Chanel, the wealthy American couple - Gerald and Sara Murphy - also made great contributions to the trend of sailor striped shirts to the fashion village. In the 1920s, the family often held parties to meet art figures at a villa on the French Riviera. Before each party, Gerald Murphy often went to Marseille port to buy a series of Breton shirts for guests. Since then, the sailor striped shirt has been loved by many artists, including Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock.

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Lee Marvin wears Breton shirt in "The Wild One".

From the 1940s to 1960s, sailor striped shirts made many people crazy for the simple reason that they were easy to wear.

The influence of Hollywood has contributed to bringing sailor striped shirt to a new level. If in the 1940s, striped shirts were the "darling" of the iconic Brigitte Bardot, until the following decade, Breton quickly dominated Hollywood. In 1953, the first shirt appeared in a cinematic work when worn by actor Lee Marvin in The Wild One. Marvin's style of wearing a sailor shirt, nose piercings, and gold earrings has inspired the motorists of that time. According to Harper's Bazaar, after that film, driver Frank Sadilek used to drive to Hollywood just to buy Marvin's T-shirt.

From Lee Marvin's first "shot" , a series of films followed the appearance of Breton shirt. Prince James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause (1955), Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief (1955), Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face (1957) . are all in this fashion.

During the 1960s, Breton became the uniform of trendy teenagers in New York. Inspired by the film Breathless by director Jean-Luc Goddard in 1960, legend Yves Saint Laurent put the shirt on his collection in 1962. The white and blue shirt also attached to the Picasso's Pablo. And the symbol Brigitte Bardot shows that the horizontal is ideal for her classic Riviera style, which is very ocean-oriented and liberal.

Other fashion trends may soon fade, but the horizontal fever has never shown signs of stopping in the following decades. Breton wearers and family members chose horizontal stripes in the 1980s and 1990s.

Like Picasso, designer Jean-Paul Gaultier's personal attire is often a Breton shirt. In a 2014 interview with Dazed magazine, Gaultier shared the reason why he liked it so much: "I was assigned to a horizontal shirt. When I was young I used to wear horizontal shirts, until I was still dressed in adolescence. they are very cheap but they are cheap ". The designer also said he was fascinated by the French military style shirt. Not only spraying all over the collections, Jean-Paul Gaultier also put horizontal patterns on the famous perfume Le Male. Designer Jenna Lyons - former CEO of J.Crew's fashion house - is passionate about the level of her and the conventional brand on March 31 is National Day of the National.

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Princess Kate Middleton (left) and the symbol Brigitte Bardot.

Today, the horizontal shirt is popular in the fashion world and the stars in the image of Princess of Cambridge Kate Middleton, Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, Olivia Palermo . But it is not just for stars. Rarely any girl without a Breton shirt in the closet. Not only does it appear under a myriad of styles, Breton shirt also has a lot of price and quality, meaning everyone can own one.

Like white shirts, it is an item that will never be replaced. Striped sailor shirt can be suitable for many situations, with many combinations.

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