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🇮🇹 Italy /Culture & Society

Snoopy: Why the beloved beagle remains a style icon

From ANSA · () Italian

Translated from Italian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • “Snoopy in Style,” a new exhibition in New York, examines how Charles M. Schulz and the Peanuts characters influenced fashion and popular culture.
  • The show combines archival material, fashion rarities, commissioned works and interactive installations, including Schulz’s clothing and vintage Peanuts merchandise.
  • It traces the characters’ distinctive clothing and Snoopy’s changing alter egos, from disco and prepster looks to grunge and his “Joe Cool” persona.

Snoopy has become a fashion reference in his own right. A new exhibition in New York, “Snoopy in Style,” explores how the beloved beagle, Charlie Brown, Lucy and the rest of the Peanuts cast helped shape the relationship between comics, clothing and popular culture.

The exhibition opened on September 2 and brings together archival material, fashion rarities, specially commissioned works and interactive installations. It also looks at creator Charles M. Schulz, whose own taste in clothing helped inspire the show. Schulz, known to friends as “Sparky,” developed an interest in sweaters through his father, a barber, and through a clothing shop near Santa Rosa after he moved there.

Among the items loaned by the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center are a red-and-black diamond-pattern sweater and a crew-neck sweater with flame stitching. The display also includes original 1960s wall calendars with psychedelic graphics, colorful sweatshirts featuring the characters and a Snoopy doll modeled on Boy George.

He wasn’t lively enough

· Charles M. SchulzSchulz explained why he added Charlie Brown’s distinctive jagged shirt stripe.

Clothing became a visual signature across the Peanuts universe. Charlie Brown first appeared in October 1950 wearing a plain white shirt, but Schulz later decided the character needed something more distinctive. “He wasn’t lively enough,” Schulz later recalled. “So I added that little jagged stripe, and he’s had it ever since.” Sally wore polka dots, Linus wore stripes like his beloved blanket, and Peppermint Patty wore flip-flops. Snoopy first appeared with a flower tucked into his collar.

As the strip grew more popular, entrepreneur Connie Boucher of San Francisco worked with Schulz to turn Peanuts from a comic strip into a major brand, filling the market with calendars, plush toys, clothing and other merchandise. Snoopy’s style continued to evolve across the strip’s five decades, drawing on disco, prepster and grunge fashions and eventually earning him the nickname “Joe Cool.”

So I added that little jagged stripe, and he’s had it ever since.

· Charles M. SchulzSchulz described the design change that became one of Charlie Brown’s defining visual features.
About this summary

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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