Devilish Fabric: The History of Stripes and Striped Fabrics – Pastoureau Michel – New Literary Review – 2026 – ISBN 978-5-4448-2514-3
Devilish Fabric: The History of Stripes and Striped Fabrics
14.99 €
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Devilish Fabric: The History of Stripes and Striped Fabrics
14.99 €
The title of this book sounds intriguing: can stripes really have their own history? M. Pastoureau answers this question affirmatively: their history, which he traces all the way to the end of the 20th century, is full of the most incredible events. Each era gave birth to new practices and cultural codes, and the systems of meanings associated with stripes, both materially and symbolically, became more complex.
During the Middle Ages, striped clothing was perceived as something low-quality, outrageous, and even simply devilish. During the Renaissance and Romanticism, the “correct” stripes became widespread — signs of holidays and symbols of freedom. Modern culture has adopted all the practices and codes of previous eras: “devilish” connotations (striped clothing of death camp prisoners) or signaling danger (zebra and other road markings); stripes associated with hygiene (bedding sets and underwear), sports (professional equipment), play, etc.
The semiology of stripes is considered by Pastoureau primarily in a social context and serves only as an approximation to an encyclopedia that has not yet been written. Michel Pastoureau is a French medievalist historian and professor at the Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes in Paris.
During the Middle Ages, striped clothing was perceived as something low-quality, outrageous, and even simply devilish. During the Renaissance and Romanticism, the “correct” stripes became widespread — signs of holidays and symbols of freedom. Modern culture has adopted all the practices and codes of previous eras: “devilish” connotations (striped clothing of death camp prisoners) or signaling danger (zebra and other road markings); stripes associated with hygiene (bedding sets and underwear), sports (professional equipment), play, etc.
The semiology of stripes is considered by Pastoureau primarily in a social context and serves only as an approximation to an encyclopedia that has not yet been written. Michel Pastoureau is a French medievalist historian and professor at the Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes in Paris.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Library of the magazine "Theory of Fashion"