Horizontal is the New Pink

WSJ :

Experts have various theories about why designers are suddenly high on horizontal stripes. One is that they are trying to capitalize on the popularity of men's shirts with vertical stripes.

Horizontal stripes have a checkered past. In the Middle Ages, they were associated with prostitutes, clowns and other social outcasts. European aristocrats took a liking to them in the 17th and 18th centuries, when striped silks were imported from Asia. But in the 1800s, they began showing up on prison uniforms. While the bars made it easier to spot escapees in a crowd, they also were intended as psychological punishment.

When Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., reintroduced striped uniforms in 1997, female inmates begged him to make the bars vertical so they wouldn't look fat. "I told them I am an equal-opportunity incarcerator -- the men have horizontal stripes, and so will the women," he says.

Designers say their stripes are different this time. Chris Lindland, founder of Cordarounds.com, a purveyor of corduroy clothes with a horizontal wale, says his $68 skirts won't emphasize the rear because the wale is very fine. He says he has sold 70 since late last month -- with just two returns -- and plans a horizontal seersucker skirt for spring.

Cordaround skirt in the photo.