This week’s report is dedicated to one of Bourgine’s dearest companions: the Oshkosh striped cotton.
In its honor, we are sharing a newsletter Caroline wrote a few years ago on this very subject - a love letter, really - updated with bonus content.
Striped "oshkosh" cotton first made its inception in our Japan Collection back in Summer 2020. It has been sitting at the heart of our Best Of Collection since, and we've spent hundreds of hours cutting, sewing, ironing, selling and shipping it. A few of us lost our sight over it but it was well worth it.
Remember?
Red, blue and green were all we knew. Until...
...we ran into a batch of brown - started to get to know each other, became enamored.
Honorine in the Armand jacket + low-rise Sélénite — yet another revolution at Bourgine
IMPORTANT FACTS WE DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE GETTING INTO THE OSHKOSH GAME
- The fabric was initially used as a hardy "ticking" material which was used on pillow cases, mattresses and curtains. It made its way onto the rails in the shape of a simple peaked cap. Dungarees and work-jackets soon followed, and the fabric earned the name of "railroad stripe".
- The perfect "oshkosh" word comes from the town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where a manufacturer of striped denim bib overalls settled in 1895.
- The reason it is also called "hickory stripe" is that it is said to be as strong as hickory wood.
This all makes a lot of sense as Justine here:
The Salopette du Jardinier
is a worker herself ; she'll probably be the one cutting your oshkosh order if you're so inclined.
