Ms. Stripey....Tomato Fest

 

Certainly, striped clothing is nothing new, but I have noticed a surge in the number of striped dresses and skirts this summer.  Are the numbers sufficiently significant to rate a trend?  My photographs from the Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival seem to indicate the potential.

 

Worth noting, I think, is the great number of horizontally striped dresses. While men have always donned horizontal stripes willy-nilly, women have tended to shy away, cautioned by "experts" that horizontal lines might create some sort of unfavorable optical illusion. In my photos, I see no evidence of that at all. These women look lovely in their stripes, no?

Stripes have been known to communicate status. Prison uniforms in the U.S. were striped in the 19th century. In the Jane Austen era, a gentleman might wear a vertically striped vest while his manservant would be wearing a horizontally striped one, indicating their different stations in life.

Thank heavens we now have stripes going every which way, signifying nothing but a woman's desire to wear a bold dress, be comfortable, and have fun.