A design that consists of long bands against a contrasting plain background, stripes are by nature eye-catching, whether they run horizontally or vertically. But although they are considered an enduring classic, both sartorially and in the interiors world, stripes have a surprisingly chequered history. In the Middle Ages, they garnered attention for controversial reasons.
Widely perceived as transgressive, striped clothing was ‘relegated to those on the margins or outside the social order’ according to Michel Pastoureau, author of. This negative symbolism was slowly revised over subsequent centuries – striped walls, drapes and furniture became de rigueur around the time of the American Revolution; Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly added a striped tented room to Château de Malmaison to receive guests, and when Queen Victoria dressed her son in a sailor suit for a yacht
