I recently had the privilege of access to a collection of original copies of the The New Yorker, and was pleasantly surprised by the advertising during post war period of the late 1940s-1960s. American industry was not only healthy and vibrant, but also possessed the ability to advertise with grace and humor. It was indeed a different era, one not without its own Cold War challenges, but certainly also one of ambition and confidence. Legendary clothiers and shops such as Brooks Brothers, J. Press, Chipp, F.R. Tripler & Co., Abercrombie & Fitch, Paul Stuart, Alden, L.L. Bean, The Talbots, Trimingham's, The Bermuda Shop, The Tog Shop and others all advertised regularly in The New Yorker. Thumbing through the pages of The New Yorker during this period, I have been constantly amazed by how timelessly "American" and "classic" the style is that has been historically associated with the names of these clothiers.
With these kinds of thoughts on my mind, I was also recently asked by fellow blogger, Glengarry Sporting Club, if I could help make sense of the myriad of names that clothiers have used over the decades for striped patterns of men's dress shirts. The question is a good one, but the minute it was asked, I knew that it would take some time to collect my sources, as well as my thoughts. I also knew that a "definitive answer" was probably out of the question, because different clothiers have called the same types of patterns many things over the years. It's not like men's traditional clothiers all got together at some sort of 'Round Table Summit' and jointly decided on the names of shirts with 1/16", 1/8", and 1/4", etc. stripes. Rather, they each seem to have either chosen names that became part of their historical repertoire of offerings, or alternatively, they changed or abandoned certain names over time.
Perhaps the best example of this kind of change over time is the pattern of striped oxford cloth known as either "Candy Stripes" or "University Stripes" (above). Historically, the term "Candy Stripe" is older and much better attested to than "University Stripe." For example, from the 1950s-1980s, that well-known trinity of traditional clothiers - Brooks Brothers, J. Press and Chipp - all called striped oxford cloth shirts "Candy Stripes." Only sometime after the 1980s, perhaps in an effort to better advertise their shirts, did J. Press break ranks and begin to call this type of fabric "University Stripe." Though J. Press stopped referring to oxford cloth striped shirts as "Candy Striped," they continued to use the term "Candy Stripe" for striped shirts made from broadcloth. This is only one example, but it is a good one, for it shows how names change, or are even abandoned, over time. Today, even Brooks Brothers no longer calls oxford cloth shirts with this pattern "Candy Stripe," but rather "Oxford Stripes." Due to the internet, I suspect that many people today may feel more comfortable with the term "University Stripe," rather than the term "Candy Stripe," even though the later is older and historically more "correct." However, I also can't let the subject of striped oxford cloth shirts go without mentioning oxford cloth "Bold Stripe" shirts (below).
Though I don't know what these shirts were actually called, this pattern contains stripes that are of the same size and spacing as Brooks Brothers "Bold Stripe" broadcloth and gingham fabrics. Brooks Brothers, unfortunately, no longer offers this pattern of oxford cloth, nor do they offer the "Bold Stripe" gingham shirts.
In addition, however, there are a great many other names that should be mentioned such as: Hairline stripe, pencil stripe, banker stripe, bold stripe, British stripe, Bengal stripe, butcher stripe, crayon stripe, block stripe, chalk stripe, blazer stripe, peppermint stripe, cable stripe, barber stripe, even 'willow stripes'. This list is not exhaustive, but merely a reflection of the great variety of names that clothiers have creatively used over the past fifty or sixty years. The images above and below show an assortment of Brooks Brothers 'Makers' shirts in a variety of stripings. The image above would include patterns such as banker stripe, pencil stripe, hairline stripe, Bengal stripe, and some multi-stripe shirts. The image below, of course, shows Brooks Brothers shirts in a bold stripe gingham fabric. This fabric was used to make the well-known "Fun Shirt."
Advertisements & Catalogs:
Rather than construct a list of shirting fabrics by stripe names, I have chosen to present advertisements by individual clothiers, so that a better perspective might be gained on the development of each clothier over time. I have rather arbitrarily chosen to look at the postwar era of the 1950s into the late century 1990s, because though the prewar period is interesting, arguably, something changed after the war, and the postwar period is when the modern versions of what we know as "Ivy," "Preppy" (and later "Trad") came into being. Organizing the images in this manner also allows a bit more of the character of each clothier to come to the fore. The images that follow have come primarily from advertisements in The New Yorker and catalogs, and in addition to documenting the offerings of each clothier, these images also open a window upon an era that really no longer exists. I feel sort of fortunate to have at least been around at the end of this era during the 1970s-1980s. By the 1990s, something had changed again, and it is perhaps reflected in the changes of terms used to describe these striped fabrics. The recent development of non-iron shirts is another major change that further distances the present from the period examined here. Clothiers have been listed by date of establishment: Brooks Brothers (1818), J. Press (1902), Paul Stuart (1938), Cable Car Clothiers (1939), and Chipp (1947).
Brooks Brothers:
The New Yorker (11/29/1958). This advertisement shows the full line of Brooks Brothers shirts in 1958. What is notable is that the striped shirts are described in very simple terms such as, "woven stripes" (oxford cloth), "pin stripe Madras" (perhaps end-on-end Madras), and "fine stripes" (English broadcloth).
The New Yorker (5/6/1961). Brooks Brothers introduced their "Brookscloth" Dacron and cotton blend in 1952, and offered them in solid colors as well as stripes. Again, a typically restrained Brooks Brothers advertisement.
Spring & Summer 1962 catalog. This type of "British Broad Stripe" would become a Brooks Brothers staple for years to come. The stripes are a bit wider than the later 1980s "Bengal Stripe." The "British Broad Stripe" was, however, probably a direct ancestor to the "Bold Stripe" shirts of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Spring & Summer 1962 catalog. Again, this catalog simply described striped shirts as "woven stripes" (oxford), and "fine stripes" (English broadcloth). It seems that until the 1970s, Brooks Brothers did not use as many clearly defined names for striped shirts.
Fun Shirt, circa late 1970s. In the 1970s, the "Fun Shirt" was originally made from randomly striped broadcloth as seen in the image above. The later 1980s version of this shirt was made from "Bold Stripe" gingham of uniform stripe width. I've always liked the sheer asymmetry of the earlier 1970s version.
Christmas 1971 catalog. In addition to the Fun Shirt (106), the "Bold Stripe"shirt (110) makes an appearance in Scottish broadcloth. This button-down collar shirt was available for years to come as the "Bold Stripe" shirt, and was later offered in gingham.
Fall & Winter 1980 catalog. I'm not sure exactly when Brooks Brothers began to refer to striped oxford cloth as "Candy Stripes," but by the late 1970s this was the term used to describe this fabric. It was offered in brown, yellow, wine and dark blue, and in addition in later years, it was also offered in green and red.
Christmas 1980 catalog. What is noteworthy is that Brooks Brothers also employed the term "Candy Stripes" for end-on-end broadcloth (Madras) fabric in both the all cotton and the Brookscloth (above) versions. I've long been a fan of end-on-end in solids and stripes for the warmer weather months. It's a fabric that's not often seen today, though Mercer & Sons is a good place to still find it today.
Fall & Winter 1981 catalog. Cotton broadcloth "Candy Stripes" in blue or wine on white. This may be either end-on-end broadcloth or regular broadcloth. I've had versions of both, so I know they exist.
Fall & Winter 1981 catalog. Hairline stripes (A) make another appearance as well as a "Multi-stripes" (C) pattern. Brooks Brothers offered many different versions of shirts with multiple stripes, but didn't seem to refer to them with anything other than a utilitarian name like "multi-stripes."
Christmas 1981 catalog. Another classic pattern was the "Hairline Stripe" (A, above). J. Press (see below) has also offered a similarly named fabric for decades. Item B, described here as "crisp new stripings," was probably similar to the late 1980s Bengal stripe, which was narrower than Brooks Brothers' "Bold Stripe" shirts.
Christmas 1981 catalog. The "Bold Stripe" pattern (F) can be seen in the above image from this catalog, along with oxford cloth "Candy Stripes" (H).
Fall & Winter 1982 catalog. In addition to Brookscloth "Candy Stripes" (A), Brooks Brothers also offered a '"Fineline Stripe" cotton broadcloth shirt in wine or blue. The "Fineline" broadcloth was probably a bit wider than "Hairline" broadcloth.
Christmas 1982 catalog. In addition to their "Candy Stripe" oxford cloth shirts (C), Brooks brothers also offered a "Fineline" oxford cloth shirt (B).
Spring 1983 catalog. The "Candy Stripe" broadcloth shirt (F) makes another appearance.
Fall & Winter 1983 catalog. Oxford cloth "Candy Stripes" in burgundy, blue, yellow and brown.
Fall & Winter 1983 catalog. The catalog reads, "New Bengal stripe own make shirts of Brookscloth...blue or red on white." The "Bengal stripe" was a bit wider than the "Fineline" but narrower than the "Bold stripe" pattern.
Fall & Winter 1983 catalog. The "Bengal Stripe" (G) and the Brookscloth "Candy Stripes" (H) continued to be offered in 1983.
Fall 1987 catalog. Brooks Brothers had been offering a boldly striped shirt for decades, as we saw in the "British Broad Stripe" from the 1962 catalog. By the early 1970s, "Bold Stripes" had become a staple, and the "Fun Shirt" was another classic that was made from this fabric. The colors also changed a bit from year to year.
Autumn 1989 catalog. The catalog read, "A proven favorite, our cotton oxford blazer stripe shirt. Yarn-dyed stripes in white on blue, pink on white or blue on peach." The Blazer Stripe has long been a personal favorite of mine. It is a shirt that, when starched looks great with grey trousers, a navy blazer and a club tie, and it also wears just as well with a pair of rumpled old khakis.
Summary:
It would seem that Brooks Brothers' policy of very spartan advertising kept it away from effusive descriptions and claims about merchandise. This was a probably a good thing. It probably helped to keep their public persona conservative and somewhat timeless, because at the same time, they were constantly pioneering new fabrics and products. In other words, though Brooks Brothers was always developing new products, and hence changing, a conservative approach to advertising helped to position this sort of change within a context of "timeless" traditionalism. Though many shirts were merely described as "striped," there were some names for striped patterns that Brooks Brothers made consistent use of over a significant span of time. Terms such as "Candy Stripe" and "Bold Stripe" are the classic examples of sort of 'naming'. These terms were used so consistently, and over such a long period of time, that they also shaped how I refer to these patterns today.
J. Press:
J. Press Spring & Summer 1954 Brochure. J. Press has always had an abundant offering of shirts in different collars and fabrics. This catalog shows a poplin "Pinstripe" in blue, grey and tan stripes on white.
The New Yorker (2/7/1959). Though this advertisement didn't name the three striped patterns offered here, they were surely what J. Press called "Candy Stripes," Pencil Stripes," and "Hairline Stripes."
The New Yorker (11/9/1960). The offerings for 1960 included "Block Stripes" (oxford cloth), Hairline Stripes" (cotton Madralyte), "Candy Striped" (cotton Madralyte), and of course, that classic that is rather hard to come by today, solid blue "End-on-End Madras." "Madralyte" was a fabric very much like end-on-end Madras, but without the box weave pattern that characterizes that fabric.
The New Yorker (4/28/1962). This amazing little advertisement contains patterns that J. Press would carry for the next twenty years: Block Stripes, Pencil Stripes, Hairline Stripes and Candy Stripes.
Fall & Winter 1977 Brochure. Multi-striped shirts were popular back in the '70s, and J. Press carried these kinds of stripes shirts, calling them "Random Stripes," "Twin Stripes and "Pavilion Stripes." 15 years after the previous advertisement above, J. Press was still offering classic stripes which included "Crayon Stripes," "Candy Stripes," "Hairline Stripes," "Pencil Stripes" and "Block Stripes." These were offered in a variety of fabrics such as oxford cloth, broadcloth and Madralyte.
Fall & Winter 1978 Brochure. In addition to the above 1977 offerings, the 1978 brochure also offered blue and white "Chalk Stripes" in end-on-end Madras.
Fall & Winter 1980 Brochure. Again, "Hairline Stripes," "Pencil Stripes," "Block Stripes," "Crayon Stripes" and "Candy Stripes." For decades, J. Press was pretty consistent about these patterns. It is hard to think of a better example and approach to traditional conservatism. I suspect that many men liked to be able to go back and get the same shirts that they had enjoyed and eventually worn out. It probably made shopping or ordering by phone easy.
Spring & Summer 1997. By the 1990s, P. Press had changed some of the terms used to describe fabric design for shirts. "Banker Stripes," "University Stripes," and "Butcher Stripes" had replaced older terms such as "Pencil Stripes," "Block Stripes," and "Candy Stripes." I don't know what caused this shift in the naming of patterns, but many of these newer terms are still used today.
Spring & Summer 2000. It is interesting that the term "Candy Stripe" did not disappear, but rather than indicating oxford cloth, it referred to a thinner broadcloth like fabric. The Fall & Winter 2000 catalog (not shown) also contains both "University Stripe" oxford cloth shirts with a flap pocket, and "Candy Striped" shirts in a broadcloth like fabric. J. Press remains just about the only clothier that still makes use of the term "Candy Stripe."
Spring & Summer 2001. The striped shirt offerings in this catalog were "University Stripe" (E), "Pencil Stripe" (H & Q), "Candy Stripe" (J), "Spaced Stripe" (M), "Blue Stripe" (R).
Summary:
J. Press very consistently named and differentiated its shirting fabrics and patterns over a very long span of time. Consistent use of terms such as "Crayon Stripes," "Candy Stripes," "Hairline Stripes," "Pencil Stripes" and "Block Stripes" gave J. Press advertising and catalogs a kind of precision that probably appealed to many customers and no doubt made ordering by phone a simple matter. If an item was out of stock, an easily identifiable alternative could be suggested in its place. Though J. Press changed the names of many of these patterns in the late 198os or early 1990s, they have consistently used the renamed patterns into the present. If nothing else, J. Press has a tradition for consistent naming of products that many traditional customers probably found, and find, reassuring. The terms "Presstablishment," "Pressidential," Presstige," and "Pressclusive" that J. Press has used over the years to indicate the different grades of suits and jackets is another example of this. Even if the supplier of shirts, jackets and suits changed, the consistent use of the same terms over time helped to give the appearance of changeless conservatism.
Paul Stuart & Cable Car Clothiers: This post would be incomplete without a couple of references to Paul Stuart and Cable Car Clothiers. The recent sale of Paul Stuart to Mitsui only amplifies the "family-owned" business style advertising seen in the early 1960s. I'm sure that Mitsui will be a good caretaker of the brand, as Paul Stuart is an enormously well-known clothier in Japan, but the era shown in these advertisements from the early 1960s is long gone.
The New Yorker (5/20/1961). I included these Paul Stuart advertisements (above and below) for the rather whimsical terms used to describe stripes: "Barber Stripes" and "Willow Stripes." I can't think of anything but The Kingston Trio when I look at that pullover above. This advert is from a time when Paul Stuart was a New York clothier, rather than an internationally known brand. The "Willow Stripes" below would have also been good in long sleeves.
Cable Car Clothiers Summer 1983 catalog. This Cable Car Clothiers catalog deserves a mention for its simple descriptions without much of any "naming" of striped patterns. Though not presented here, Cable Car also deserves further mention for still offering in 1983 that rarest of oxford striped button-down collar shirts, the long-sleeved pullover. I always wanted one and never had the common sense to just order one when I had the chance.
Chipp:
Finally, a few images from the legendary clothier Chipp during the 1950s and 60s.
The New Yorker (9/27/1952). This advertisement shows Chipp's rather remarkable offerings in 1952. Striped shirts were offered in "Candy Stripes" (oxford cloth and broadcloth) and "Peppermint Striped Madras," which I assume was end-on-end Madras.
The New Yorker (10/16/1954). In the fall of 1954, striped shirts were offered in "Cable Stripes, "Hairline Stripes," "Peppermint Stripes" and "Candy Stripes." This sort of easy to remember naming is reminiscent of J. Press advertising.
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Fall & Winter 1965 catalog. However, the 1965 Chipp catalog simply used measured stripe widths for the naming of striped shirts fabrics. I don't know if this was an abandonment of the above names, but it probably means that I need to search out Chipp advertising from the mid-1960s to find out. However, like J. Press, Chipp seems to have had a good policy of names for shirt fabrics that probably helped customers easily identify and remember the names of patterns. Names like "Cable Stripes" and "Peppermint Stripes" were unique as well as appealing. (Image link here for the rest of the catalog.)
Conclusion:
There is an Albert Einstein quote that goes like this: "Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy." I might also add, "and so is calling a 'candy stripe' a 'university stripe,' or calling a 'broad stripe', a 'bold stripe,' a 'butcher stripe'." I get the feeling that many names were merely convenient ways that clothiers had of marketing and differentiating their offerings in a competitive marketplace. Brooks Brothers was probably the least descriptive when it came to the naming of shirts, relying upon a very basic description and an accompanying image that gave customers an idea of the garment in question. More than Brooks Brothers, J. Press and Chipp had a greater tendency to consistently use the same descriptive names for shirts of every stripe over an extended period of time. This was probably not bad thing. Customers probably liked the reliability, and the terms consistently used did accurately describe the patterns involved. As has been suggested above, consistent use of pattern names also probably gave the impression of changelessness, even though manufacturing methods and suppliers may have changed over time. With J. Press, the consistent use of terms probably helped it maintain an image of conservatism in the midst of not only socially and politically turbulent decades, but also in the midst of a change in ownership to the Onward Kashiyama company in 1986.
Today, clothiers continue to use names that signify not only certain patterns, but also certain social, professional and historical affiliations. "Banker," "University," "Oxford," "Bengal" are all terms that not only describe stripes but also point toward a certain lifestyle with its socio-historical aspirations. These terms carry more content and provide a thicker description than merely descriptive measurements such as '1/16" stripes' or "1/8" stripes'.
Though Brooks Brothers continues to refer to striped shirts with such terms as Bengal, Pencil, Bold, and Oxford, one doesn't sense the use of description that, as in the past, pointed to a conservative Brooks Brothers style. Sadly, they also no longer offer the Blazer Stripe and Bold stripe shirts of old. J. Press continues to make consistent use of names in a way upholds their approach to traditional menswear. Though they have started York Street, a new line of clothing aimed at a younger age group, one hopes that they will continue to offer their traditional line as they have in the past. Though not mentioned above, shirtmaker, Mercer & Sons may be about the only place to still find truly traditional shirts that are constructed in a traditional manner without linings in the collars and cuffs. Their fabric offerings are very wide and they use easy to identify terms such as Banker, Pencil, Broad, University, Bengal, Butcher, etc. Mercer & Sons may also be about the only place to order end-on-end Madras striped shirts, as well.
Finally, certain patterns, such as the "Blazer Stripe" have sort of disappeared. The 'Makers' blazer stripe (above) worn with a thrice patch-pocketed flannel blazer (above) reminds me that certain shirt patterns naturally go well with certain suits and jackets. It's not Einsteinian physics, but once you accept this, then wearing a striped shirt with a striped club tie is also pretty easy.