But the fascinating history of stripes predates Saint James. Way back in the day, stripes had a much less quaint reputation: The pattern was considered “the devil’s clothing,” according to historian Michel Pastoureau. (He wrote an entire book on the subject, in fact.) During the Middle Ages, the pattern was associated with the wayward — prostitutes, criminals, outcasts — and from the 19th century through the mid-20th century, prisoners wore striped uniforms to be easily distinguishable from civilians. But the pattern's negative rep started to dissipate in the 18th century, circa the French and American Revolutions In 1858, the striped shirt got an image revamp thanks to the French navy, which changed its uniform to a Vareuse-style sweater made from canvas-like wool with a blue-and-white striped pattern, a.k.a. “la marinière.” Legend has it that the original design featured 21 stripes, in honor of Napoleon’s victories against the British navy, per the BBC . And legend has it that indigo, a dye resistant to salty sea air, was expensive, so it was used sparingly and interspersed with white to trim costs. There was a purely practical rationale, too: Stripes were easy to spot if a crew member fell overboard.It's unclear whether stripes were popularized in France by the official naval uniform or by fishermen's de facto uniforms, as the latter wore “ chandail " sweaters as early as the 17th century, but both are closely associated with the mid-1800s in northern France. This is where Saint James comes into the story. The country's well-established but disjointed wool-production industry dated back to the 11th century, and wool was highly sought-after by fishermen for retaining warmth, even when wet. The Legallais family began to consolidate independent makers in the small town of Saint-James in 1850 to focus on wool workwear, specifically the naval collared sweater; Saint James became an official, incorporated company in 1889.The striped shirt was still considered strictly workwear for a few more decades, until leisure time became an official thing in 1936 with the introduction of paid vacation . Coco Chanel also helped the item become an off-duty fashion statement (and commercialized the look, too): Because people were taking time off on the country's coasts, she added “le style marin” to her Deauville boutique in 1913. Chanel was the first designer to design striped pieces in jersey, not wool — and to market the French staple expressly as leisurewear.