Dykes in Stripes

What is it about lesbians in striped shirts? I can’t be the only person to have noticed the dyke penchant for stripes, can I?

I was reading Alison Bechdel’s fantastic The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For (which I’m actually going to put on the reading list for a class I’m teaching) and a reader can’t help but remark upon the main character, Mo, and her fondness for striped shirts. That’s fair enough; it’s Mo’s personal style.

But look around you. At your next gender studies reading group or women’s gathering or at your next visit to the gay bar or some hot lesbian party, I guarantee you will see a number of women wearing stripes.

There are vertical stripes, like the pinstriped trousers I myself love wearing, and the thin stripes on waistcoats or sexy suits (I wish my sweetie would get a pinstriped suit one day, as she’d be hot in it, not that she isn’t hot in whatever she’s wearing, or not wearing!).

And there are horizontal stripes, too, especially on shirts, such as the ones Mo sports. Looking at Bechdel’s book, I started thinking about all the gay women I know and how stripes seem to proliferate in their wardrobes. My beloved has a lot of striped tops and even I have a few.

Why is this? Is there something especially dykey about stripes? Does it appeal to lesbians because it is one of the few non-girly patterns available?

Whatever it is, I like it, I admit it.