Chapter 7 3. From horizontal stripes to vertical stripes and curved stripes (16th-19th century)-1

From devil's to servant's A new class of stripes has gradually emerged in modern society.The old character of stripes has not completely disappeared, but at the same time has taken on new forms and meanings.Its use on fabrics extends beyond clothing and symbolism: interior decoration, furniture, sanitary ware, everyday life, sailors increasingly use striped patterns.The diversification of functions is accompanied by the diversification of meanings.Now not all stripes are derogatory.In the Ancien Regime there appeared the "good" stripe, the positive stripe, which in the romantic age not only proclaimed "the dawn of a new age," but seemed to have the potential to defeat the pejorative stripe.At the same time, the days of horizontal stripes are gradually gone, and vertical stripes, which were rarely used in the Middle Ages, are becoming more and more common.This is conducive to the emergence of new rhythms and structures: the orthodox two-color is no longer the only color in the stripe system, and now the stripes can be three-color, four-color, or even multi-color, and the vertical interval between the stripes is no longer is an absolute rule.

In clothes, this geometric shift allows old social categories to be broken down.Stripes are no longer diabolical—or just diabolical—more people in society wear them now than they used to.In 18th century Europe, there were aristocratic and peasant stripes, festive and everyday stripes, exotic and servant stripes all at the same time. (1) From the Devil's to the Servant's The status of striped clothing from the end of the Middle Ages to the early modern period is characterized by a rapid transition from devil's stripes to servant's stripes.Either on its own, or in conjunction with the old connotations of uncleanness or destruction, stripes gradually became the overarching sign of servitude or subordination.It is for this reason that the use of stripes is becoming more and more common.

In fact, the servant's stripes have been around for a long time.There were precedents as early as the Roman Empire [40].However, we are now looking at another class of stripes that originated in feudal times and became fashionable in the 11th century, a period during which classification symbols were increasingly used in Western society and clothing became the best place to record most of these symbols. good carrier.Shapes, colours, weaves, patterns, decorations and accessories are used to distinguish individual and group categories, and are sometimes used to denote kinship, affiliation or bonding.The original meaning of the coat of arms is still in conception, but the clothing system has begun to play a symbolic role and makes extensive use of striped patterns.

Striped garments of this nature initially emphasized the lowly but not necessarily derogatory or devilish features (it was not easy to completely distinguish these different concepts in feudal times), and seemed to be the servants of the noble lords. Clothes: At first palace servants, cooks and grooms, and servants at table; later soldiers, servants at hunting, servants on horses and hounds while hunting, bailiffs, various servants.Since then, in the 12th century, the scope of wearing striped clothing has been extended to all people who hold positions or depend on the life of the lord: wine chiefs, chief stewards, royal wolf hunters, people who train falcons or falcons, army heralds, clowns ,musician.It varies by region and period.According to the historical data, the portrait is richer than the description of the article.It seems that this phenomenon first appeared in the Germanic countries, especially in the Rhine and southern regions of Germany.Also in these places, this phenomenon has continued through the Middle Ages to modern times [41].

After the advent of heraldry around the middle of the twelfth century, the stripes on servants' clothing were somehow combined with the rules of heraldry.The two-color stripes on the clothes of servants and officers in the service of the lord began to match the colors of the lord's coat of arms, even though the lord's coat of arms did not have a stripe pattern.It was at this time that the livery, as it was called later, was born.In addition, an equivalence gradually developed between the heraldic half-coloured garments—that is to say, the upper and lower halves of different colors—and the striped garments.This equivalence continued until the end of the Middle Ages and was true for the livery of servants as well as the clothing worn by the socially outcast and God-forsaken mentioned above[42].For medieval people (people don't see it that way today), from a structural point of view, in emphasizing the identity between the simple two-color (half and half of the color) and the two-color (striped) in which two colors alternate It is representative.It also has a strong metaphor, because only part of the clothes can be striped or half-colored, but it is equivalent to the whole clothes being striped.This is often the case with tight trousers and sleeves.Tight trousers (think Saint Joseph) or sleeves in different colors are enough to accentuate negative features, both moral and social.In medieval culture, the part was always equivalent to the whole.

Servant stripes were most popular between the early 15th and mid-16th centuries.Not only men wear it, women also wear it.Portraits of maids in striped smocks, skirts or aprons abound, as are paintings of squires, servants and black slaves in striped clothes, especially around 1500.The servant's stripes here also have an important meaning of exoticism.This phenomenon first appeared in Italy, as well as in Venice, where the great nobles of Venice transported some young people from Africa to be palace slaves[43].African colors quickly became fashionable, taking hold across most of the peninsula and then across the Alps.Every court had its "black slaves," whom people liked to dress in striped garments.This indicates that they were of Eastern origin (Africa was in the East in the eyes of medieval people), pagan origin and servant status.Although the practice declined for a while after 1560-1580, it became popular again in the 17th-19th centuries.

The connection that servanthood established between stripes and blacks left a deep imprint in paintings and prints.From the end of the 15th century, for example, in the "Worship of the Three Kings" scene, the black king is presumably dressed in striped garments [44].In the 16th century this became a real iconographic mark.Balthazar* was neither a slave nor a socially inferior, but quite the opposite, though custom came to associate striped clothing with Africans, regardless of social status.So a painter like Verones never forgets to paint his Negro in a striped suit or—this is the specialty of a great artist in his own right—to paint a striped man next to a Negro.

This association between blacks and stripes has especially long life in sculpture, theater, and all performances or ceremonies that require makeup.In modern times, simply wearing striped clothing can transform oneself into a "barbarian", which can destroy social order and cultural order.The stripes on clothing even went beyond Africa and became the unifying symbol of all exotic forms or life remaining in a state of nature[45].American Indians, and later Native Atlantics, were also described as striped, either on their clothing or in their tattoo designs.For Westerners, stripes, at least some kind of stripes, have become an essential insignia of those peoples who are considered the least "civilized".

The servant's stripes haven't disappeared.Whether related to coat of arms or not, it carried livery throughout the Ancien Regime and continued through the relay of striped vests until the middle of the century.The striped vest was born in Victorian England, usually yellow and black, and soon became a special symbol of the valet and the butler in Europe and the United States [46].Wearing a striped tank top is a bit out of date today, but it's still seen from time to time in movies, comics, and comic strips, all three creative realms in which sartorial features play an important role.With a vertical-striped vest, a catering manager couldn't help but be seen as a catering manager.The most famous of these was Captain Haddock's catering steward, Nestor, a character portrayed by Hergé in The Adventures of Tintin.No matter the occasion, Nestor always wears his striped vest.

In Britain at the end of the last century, servants wearing such vests had the nickname "Tiger", which often refers to Africans.Servant's stripes, exotic stripes and animal stripes (cat's stripes) coalesce into a metaphor, somewhat derogatory.For a long time there were no "tigers" in the owner's room, but they could still be seen in advertisements until the middle of the 20th century. Another continuation of the medieval stripes and livery of the Ancien Regime era is in the uniform.First civilian uniforms (gamekeepers, municipal officers, various low-level civil servants), then military uniforms, where again stripes and coats of arms are combined for the purpose of establishing symbolism, organizing groups, and distinguishing them Internal individual status.Among the military it was the "Landsknechte" (the French translation of this word can be translated literally: "servant of the state", that is, the German mercenary in the service of a great power) who first used striped clothing to distinguish themselves from others starting in the 15th century.Beginning in the 17th century, when the uniform (uniform in the modern sense) was actually born, military stripes became popular in many regiments in most European countries, along with various flags, flags, and pennants.We'll see how it reaches the Navy through another route later on.