Why striped prison uniform

History striped prison clothes hiding in the dark and the European Middle Ages is full of deaths, religious bigotry and absurdity.

Striped shape - a classic version of the dress for prisoners. Such an unusual attire for two reasons. Firstly, such clothing facilitates the capture of a fugitive - it is clearly visible to anyone who catches the fugitive, and local residents saw him, immediately understood that it was escaped prisoner, and not released stroll tourist. Secondly, the need to wear unusual and the same for all prisoners clothing has a certain psychological effect, suppressing the will and separating the prisoners from the free people. It would seem, with a striped robe for prisoners is clear. But not so easy as it seems at first glance.





The persecution and rejection by society - a strange process, the causes of which can be very, very difficult. They may lie in the people's culture, religious beliefs, the point of view of the ruling elite and the many other reasons. But what happened to the cloth with stripes, lies outside of formal logic.



In 1310, in Rouen French shoemaker one was sentenced to death for having "been caught in a striped dress." This unusual case shows how in the Middle Ages belonged to the striped clothes. On the history of the persecution of the striped cloth wrote the book "The Devil's Clothing: history stripes and striped fabric." Its author was a historian Michel Pasturo - one of the best specialists
. In the preface to his book Pasturo writes that "since XII-XIII century, preserved abundant documentation showing that the striped clothing was considered shameful, degrading and downright diabolical." Striped dress worn by executioners and prostitutes. In addition to the executioners and prostitutes in medieval Europe striped suits were supposed to wear all sorts of outcasts - circus, jesters, lepers, cripples, heretics and illegitimate children

.

Unpleasant thing happened in the 13th century the monks of the Order of Carmelites. They were based in Palestine and were far from European prejudices. Order Guide got the idea to start a new form, sewing robes in brown and white stripes. To do this, even found a biblical allusion - the Old Testament prophet Elijah disappears in the sky on a chariot of fire, leaving behind a scorched white cloud brown traces of the wheels. But fancy robes is not relished first encountered the Europeans. Carmelite stoned and whistles. The conflict came to the Pope Alexander IV, who the supreme decree forbade the wearing striped robes. The Carmelites have gone on about the prejudice and for a quarter of a century did not follow the decree. Nevertheless, the Vatican was able to insist on his own, and the final bull of Boniface VIII forbade strips without exception Catholic monastic order in the world.



To this day, there is no consensus about where it came from a bad reputation in the clothing strips. Historian Pasturo suggests that it came from the free interpretation of biblical quotes, "Do not wear a double garment." On the other hand, it could be due to the fact that striped clothing conceal the silhouette and could be regarded as an attempt to camouflage. But neither the first nor the second hypothesis can not explain the reasons for the strange hatred medieval Europeans in this coloring.



Devil character strips extended to animals that nature has painted so fantastically. Accomplices trait considered not only black, but striped cats, tigers, snakes, and hyenas. The strange story of what happened to the zebras, the existence of which in the Middle Ages knew very, very few. Catholic naturalists, as one zebra ranked to the category of "devil" of animals, where zebra stayed up until the Reformation, yet it did not meet the new generation of zoologists.



Final diabolical story strip was at the end of the XVIII century. Revolution occurred not only in France and the New World, but also in the minds of ordinary people. The bar is no longer seen as a taboo. On the other hand, began a total fashion striped fabric - from clothing to furniture upholstery and walls. About US flag, which came just in time, not worth remembering.



Coming a long way from the Middle Ages, the fear of society embodied in the appearance of stripes striped uniforms for zaklyuchennyh.Polosataya uniforms appeared in the US in the 19th century with the emergence of the two prison systems. Pennsylvania Quakers system was invented and encouraged remorse by forcing prisoners to work and live in solitary confinement. Auburn system has organized special industries, allowing prisoners to work collectively for the day under stringent conditions: they were not allowed to talk to each other, their every move is rigidly regulated, the same hair cut short, and they wore striped uniforms. This dress has existed for about a century. The latter, who wore striped clothes (not counting the prisoners of concentration camps of Nazi Germany), were British. Women until 1971, and until 1991 the first men wore dresses and shirts in white and blue stripes. It came to curiosities. After wearing uniforms abolished, allowing the prisoners to wear regular clothes, many continued to follow the tradition and order his striped clothes from tailors freestyle.