Why it's time to dust off your pinstripes
The idea that pinstripes are having a revival will seem ludicrous to some, because the pattern has always been part of the backbone of men’s tailoring daywear. But, certainly, pinstripes are more popular than they have been for some time. For a while, it seemed they were the sartorial equivalent of a banker’s bonus in the middle of a recession.
Pinstripes have always been synonymous with the financial industry; tailors in the Victorian era evolved the pinstripe pattern on cloth, it is said, to identify a corporate uniform for certain banks. The thickness of the stripes and spacing between them denoted which banking dynasty you drew up the ledgers for.
Adopted by respectability-seeking crooks (think Al Capone), the pinstripe suit then became the corporate armour for Wall Street demigods of the Eighties, so deftly depicted in Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho.
Gieves & Hawkes suit, £498, Farfetch
With the stock of bankers plummeting after a global downturn, their standard attire took a back step; plain greys, navys and – tellingly – funereal blacks dominated the output of Savile Row in the Noughties.
This is a shame, because producing a pinstripe takes skill. In his book, The ABC of Men’s Fashion, Hardy Amies points out that pinstripes are “really a series of dots”, woven into the cloth over the background weave, then aligned to create a clear, sharply defined line.
Churchill was a fan, and understood it was a most flattering pattern – which also explains why it was adopted by Hollywood stars in the Fifties, Sixties and beyond.
Pinstripes would become a mainstay of the suits of Ralph Lauren and Dolce & Gabbana, the latter casting them in ad campaigns featuring Sicilian dons.
Theobald jacket, £203, Oliver Spencer
If your own pinstripe suit is in a sartorial slump, take a tip from the recent catwalks and allow it to branch out beyond the boardroom; wear it with a polo-neck sweater instead of a shirt, or neat trainers instead of formal shoes. And if you’re considering a fresh investment, embrace a pinstripe pattern on more informal pieces, such as drawstring trousers or soft structure blazers. You’ll look considered, not corporate.
Tracking the trend
Early years
Savile Row crafted the narrow, knife- edge sharp pinstripe in the 19th century, before it became the go-to for mobsters (such as Robert de Niro in The Godfather Part II).
Greed is good
The pinstripe became as integral to the uniform of Patrick Bateman (in American Psycho) and his cohorts as gel-slicked hair and a giant mobile phone – earning it a bad rep down the line.
Current incarnations
High fashion has picked apart the pinstripe on the catwalks – at Dior Homme, Alexander McQueen and Maison Margiela – and softened its corporate overtones.
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