When you think “sailors” you may picture men in Cracker Jack style Dixie cup hats and Popeye-esque anchor tattoos, or you may picture men in navy and white horizontal “sailor stripe” shirts. Have you ever wondered why nautical fashion involves the famous sailor stripes?

Why sailors wear stripes:

It was the French navy that is thought to have been the first to utilise the sailor stripe pattern for its sailors in 1858, and its function was purely practical: If a sailor fell overboard the bright, distinctive striped pattern acted like a modern-day neon jacket which could easily be spotted amidst the waves. Later, many French fishermen also adopted these “marinière” striped shirts for similar reasons.

The sailor stripes are particularly associated with the coastal French region of Brittany, from where it is thought that the sailor stripe originated and from whose port many stripe-shirted sailors set off to sea. For this reason the pattern is also known as the “Breton stripe”; Bretons being the locals of Brittany. The sailor stripe pattern is so closely linked with Brittany that their flag, designed in 1923, also contains the Breton stripe pattern, although it’s in black rather than in navy blue.

Why is the color of the sailor stripes blue and white?

If being spotted at sea was the general idea, lots of colors could have been used to do that job: red, yellow, bright green.. so why were the colors blue and white chosen?

One theory is that the navy blue symbolises the color of the sea and also of the skies, whilst the white may symbolise either the point at which the sea and the sky meet at the horizon, or it may symbolise the white frothy surf of the waves.

Is there meant to be a certain number of stripes in a sailor stripe shirt?

Some sources say that originally the French navy’s Breton stripe shirts had exactly 21 stripes; symbolising 21 of Napoleon’s victories.

These days, aesthetics is the main thing that determines the number of stripes.

How the Breton stripe sailor fashion became a fashion staple in the landlubber world

You may have noticed that in our day and age you don’t have to be a sailor nor a Frenchman to don the Breton stripe. In fact famous people ranging from Kate Moss to Andy Warhol and even Picasso have all been photographed wearing the Breton stripe. How did a sailor shirt enter the non-nautical fashion world?

It is said that the force behind the emergence of the Breton stripe in the world of fashion was one influential French lady: Coco Chanel.

It is believed that when fashion designer, Coco Chanel, travelled to the coast some time in the early 1900s, she noticed the distinctive pattern on the sailors’ shirts and was taken with it. Inspired, she began incorporating the stripes into her own designs, wearing the Breton stripe herself. With her backing, the design quickly caught on in the fashion world, making the Breton stripe shirt a popular choice amongst celebrities, fashion-lovers in France, and later, throughout the world.

Despite many a landlubber adopting this sailor stripe pattern, its connection with the sea is often retained, because to this day fashionistas frequently don the design in summery beach weather, on sailing expeditions and whilst holidaying by the sea.

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The small pocket on jeans is known as a “watch pocket” because before 1868, wristwatches hadn’t been invented yet and instead people carried “pocket watches” on chains or fobs. Whilst some people kept these in their waistcoat pockets or inside their jacket pockets, jeans provided another option for convenient placement of these watches, kept separate from other pockets so that the clock face wouldn’t get scratched.

Wristwatches only became popular around the 1920s.

What do we use these watch-pockets for today?

Since wristwatches have almost completely replaced pocket watches, the “watch pocket” in jeans has become obsolete. However, there are several modern uses for the watch pocket you can try for yourselves:

• Use it as a coin pocket: Although it’s a bit deep which makes it difficult to reach the small change you put in here, its depth also means that these coins won’t fall out very easily.
• Use it as a music player pocket: It’s great to hold a small ipod or mp3 player.
• Use it as a comb pocket: You can fit a small comb in there for any hair emergencies.
• Use it as a floss pocket: A small pack of floss can fit in there for spinach-in-teeth emergencies. Alternatively it’s great for storing toothpicks. Just be careful not to prick yourself!
• Use it as a mouth freshner pocket: A small pack of gum or mouth-freshener can fit in there.
• Use it as a plectrum holder: Plectrums are so easy to lose. Never lose them again with your very own plectrum pocket!
• Use it for your favourite cosmetic: It’s great as a lipstick or lip balm pocket. Alternatively, it can store a small tube of mascara, or even a small mirror. A nail file also fits snugly in here but beware if you’re going to be sitting – these may snap if not strategically placed!
• Use it as as plaster pocket: Perfect for band-aids. Recommended for clumsy folks.
• Use it as as tissue pocket: You never know when you might need one.
• Use it as as lighter pocket
• Use it as a key pocket
• Use it as a USB memory stick pocket
• Use it as as ticket pocket: The technical tailoring term for the watch pocket is a “ticket pocket” and this is quite apt because you can genuinely use it for ticket-storing purposes. You can use it for train tickets, bus tickets or cinema tickets. Warning: Only put tickets in here if you don’t mind them getting very scrumpled..
• Use it as a swiss army knife pocket: In case you need a can opener or corkscrew at a second’s notice.
• Use it as a pen /pencil holder: Stick a little folded piece of paper or notebook in there alongside that pen or pencil and you’re set for all urgent note-taking eventualities. Talking of pieces of paper, this pocket is also fantastic to store shopping lists.
• Use it as a snack holder: It’s the perfect size to put a small snack bar.
• Use it as a flag holder: It’s Independence Day and your arm is getting tired from waving your flag. Never fear, flag-holder-pocker is here! Not just for Independence Day! Also useful for any everyday flag use.
• Use it as a wand holder: For extreme Harry Potter fans.
• Use it as a thumb warmer: Ok, so it’s not the comfiest of pockets for your thumbs, but it’s skin tight so will provide lots of body heat to warm those digits in no time!

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