History Of The Pinstripe Suit - The Bespoke Tailor (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of the pinstripe suit? ›

Where does the pinstripe suit come from? It has been suggested that the pinstripe suit was the principal uniform of English bankers towards the end of the 19th century. Employees working within different banking institutions could be easily identified by the thickness of the pinstripes on their trousers.

From businessmen to Hollywood icons, the pinstripe suit was a symbol of power and sophistication. Famous people who have worn it include Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Leonardo DiCaprio (in “The Wolf of Wall Street”) .

The suit became the unofficial uniform of the Prohibition era, beloved of the ultra-stylish and anoyone who wanted to stand out from the crowd and make a bold statement. Naturally then it was popular not only with film stars and jazz musicians, but also with gangsters, the most famous of which of course was Al Capone.

Traditionally a sartorial by-word for power, the pinstripe has its origins in the banking world, worn as a way of distinguishing workers at different Victorian banks based on the distance between the thin white lines on their suits.

Pinstripe is one of those patterns that, honestly, doesn't need a ton of explanation – it's quite simply a series of evenly spaced stripes that are characteristically skinny – 'pin' skinny, if you will. Simple enough!

Bankers and other workers in the financial industry would wear pinstripe suits. The colors of the vertical stripes in their suits represented the banking houses for which they worked. Over time, pinstripes suits made their way into other industries. You can now find workers in all types of industries wearing them.

The popularity of pinstripe suits grew rapidly once it had spread across the Atlantic, taking American culture by storm in '20s, '30s and '40s. The suit became the unofficial uniform of the Prohibition era, beloved of the ultra-stylish and anyone who wanted to stand out from the crowd and make a bold statement.

A pinstripe suit can help you stand out, show your authority and feel more confident, especially if it's in a more formal setting. Pair with a matching waistcoat for a perfectly put-together look that'll have you ready to meet your audience.

If you're wearing a pinstripe suit to a formal occasion, you should stick to a formal look; a properly-fitted dress shirt and a well-assorted tie are great pairings. If you decide to sport a pinstripe to a less formal event, consider breaking up the style with a turtleneck or v-neck t-shirt.

Today, the pinstripe suit remains as popular as ever, with many people calling upon this powerful style for a wide range of formal occasions.

What is the difference between stripe and pinstripe suits? ›

The easiest way of noticing the difference between a chalk stripe suit and a pinstriped one, is in fact the obvious – to look for either a line that looks like it is drawn from a tailors chalk, or rather formed from small pinheads in a straight line to become a pinstripe.

For the same reasons as the races, weddings and business events, pinstripes work for almost any type of formal event. They're understated, professional (if you need them to be) and look smart for any occasion. Go for smaller, closer pinstripes or subtler patterns if you want to look formal but a little more low key.

One theory has it that the first pinstripe suits originated as bank uniforms, with different striping to identity employees of different firms. Pinstripes have long been a symbol of power dressing.

In fact, the only thing that everyone is able to agree on is that the pinstripe was definitely an English invention.

Pinstripes are made to wear with dress pants, not jeans, and you will make fashion-aware people cringe when they see you. This is obviously not the end goal, so make sure that the pattern looks good. Some examples of suit patterns that go well with jeans are: Checks and Plaids.

Pinstripes have been found on suits since the early 19th century. They were used by banks in London to identify their employees.

The goal of pin striping is to enhance the curves of the surface, and the lines are generally of a complementary color. In any other form of decorative pin stripes, the goal is the same. In addition and coincidentally, it can help to hide flaws in the surface such as a scratch or blemish.

(of cloth or clothing) having a pattern of narrow, usually pale, parallel lines, typically worn by business people for work: Some wore shorts and T-shirts, while others arrived in pinstriped suits.

The real answer is just that they were a fad in baseball at the time. The Giants had begun wearing them, and the Cubs had started the trend a few years before. The Yankees debuted the pinstripes in black in 1912, but they went away after that year.