Breathless Contextual Analysis

Black and white graphic line pattern juxtaposed to create elegance and finery, eerie and eccentricity, inexplicable yet enticing. ‘’Their general appeal is basically that anyone can wear one and look great. They have that classic but cool vibe’’ says Tess Richards, design director at high street store Jigsaw, ‘’they have a sense of humour to them’’. The unvarying search of the devoted and nostalgic crowd to pull on something in the morning, come rain, shine, acne, wrinkles or mere fashion faddish, find salvage in the humble confluence of simple stripes which is the answer to both, looking good and looking fashionable. Breton stripes have that mystique and nonchalance to it that the rest of the world is so eager to capture. A wardrobe staple

The prominent presence is seen as stripe flashes on screen, when Frank Sadilek drove to Hollywood to purchase his own horizontal lined T-shirt (also influencing the biker fashion of the time); when Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face is seen wearing turtleneck sweater, ski pants and a Breton top in a Paris club ; when Edith Head, paid homage to Breton in the film To catch a thief where Cary Grant wore a Breton style t-shirt and white polka dot cravat; when in The Backup plan Jenifer Lopez sips coffee in her stripe flared pyjamas.

This stripe number was adopted by all, Pablo Picasso being one of the early embracers. Throughout the 60s; trademarked Breton top and black tights became tantamount to Andy Warhol’s style . James Dean, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Edie Sedgwick and Jams Seberg, all popularized and swayed in the French navy striped