Pinstripes

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Fabric with a pinstripe pattern Pinstripe.jpg
Fabric with a pinstripe pattern

Pinstripes are a pattern of very thin stripes of any color running in parallel. The pattern is often found in fashion fabrics. Pinstripes are very thin, often 130 inch (0.85 mm) in width, and are created with one single-warp yarn.

Contents

A man wearing a pinstripe suit Portrait of Sir Henry Dale Wellcome M0017462.jpg
A man wearing a pinstripe suit

Men's suits

Although found mostly in men's suits, any type of fabric can be pinstriped, including fabric for shirts. [1] Pinstripes were originally worn only on suit pants but upon being adopted in America during the 20th century they were also used on suit jackets. [2] Pinstripes have been found on suits since the early 19th century. They were used by banks in London to identify their employees. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Baseball

The Boston Nationals' baseball uniforms have had pinstripes since 1907 and they are recognized as the first Major League Baseball team to incorporate pinstriping into a baseball uniform. [10] Many other former and current Major League Baseball teams—including the Florida Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres—later adopted pinstripes on their own uniforms. The Yankees, in particular, are associated with the pattern. [11] This was later carried over into the National Basketball Association, with teams like the Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic incorporating pinstripes into their uniforms.

History

References to pinstripes can be found in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (written between 1387 and 1400), where the Sergeant at the Law is described as wearing "a homely parti-coloured coat girt with a silken belt of pin-stripe stuff". [12]

Chalk stripe

Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge, and Teddy Hill, in front of Minton's Playhouse in New York City, some wearing chalk stripe zoot suits. Portrait of Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge, and Teddy Hill, Minton's Playhouse, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947.jpg
Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge, and Teddy Hill, in front of Minton's Playhouse in New York City, some wearing chalk stripe zoot suits.

The pinstripe is often compared to the wider chalk stripe. [13]

References

  1. "Earn your Stripes - A Glossary of Shirting Stripes". Budd London . Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  2. "Pinstripe Suits: How to Wear Them and Whether You Should Buy Them". KnownMan.com. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  3. "The History of Pinstripes". Capitol Hill Clothiers. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  4. "A client brings his silver to a City of London bank and the cashier prepares to weigh it". Getty Images. 8 April 2004. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  5. Crane, Murray. "The Origins of the Pinstripe Suit". Crane Brothers. Auckland, New Zealand . Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  6. Merriman, Jane (August 9, 2007). "No brown shoes for 'peacocks' of banking". Reuters . Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  7. Fitzmaurice, Rosie. "These are the unwritten dress codes for the major London City banks". Business Insider. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  8. "British banker, diplomat and former Governor of the Bank of England, Rowland Baring, 3rd Earl of Cromer (1918-1991) pictured at his desk in London on 7th November 1970". Getty Images. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  9. "British banker Raymond Bonham Carter in front of a window overlooking the river Thames, London, 9th February 1978. (Photo by Evening Standard)". Getty Images. 8 August 2017.
  10. "Cubs Uniform". Baseball Almanac.
  11. Dittmeier, Bobby. "Yankees pinstripes turn 100 years old". MLB.Com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  12. Adventures in English Literature, Athena Edition . Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1996. p.  67. ISBN   0-03-098638-9.
  13. "Chalk stripe or pin stripe?". Gentleman's Gazette. Retrieved 2017-06-19.