This is a story of reinvention, beginning with the fisherman's sweater, through the navy uniform and the fashionable clothing of the Riviera led by Coco Chanel.

To become the favorite dress of movie stars of the French New Wave, Jean Seberg, Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau.

Today, it is still active in the wardrobes of fashionable dressers around the world.

The sea shirt is a poetic protagonist in any outfit, and its laissez-faire style is infused with literature, longing and love.

It blows like a wind from the sailors of the old wave to the bland new wave of the 1960s, from the nautical clothes of the 19th century to the cinematic fashion.

It is represented by Brigitte Bardot in director Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt.

Film vision, it is said, divides two eras before and after Godard's directorial debut, Breathless.

This classic completely changed the rules of filmmaking.

The same goes for the sea shirt. After Jean Seberg appeared in a movie wearing a striped shirt, pixie hair and khaki pants, a new era in fashion was ushered in.

Inspired by sailor clothes, the striped dress was first presented by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel in her 1913 sweater collection, a royal and glamorous garment (six years later she built her first resort line) that was stylish and romantic.

The first remodeling of the sea shirt was in Brittany.

Locals weave dense sweaters from Breton wool to keep fishermen warm when they go out to sea.

In 1858, the French Navy chose it as its uniform, stipulating that it must consist of 21 white stripes 20 mm wide and 21 blue stripes 10 mm wide.

After Chanel reinvented it as a coastal chic, it became an enduring favorite of stylish women around the world - Marilyn Monroe wore her red sailor suit in Santa Monica, and Audrey Hepburn stocked her closet with all manner of sea sweaters.

The sea shirt has been a regular feature in French films - from wearing it to JeanneMoreau riding her bicycle in Francois Truffault's Jules et Jim (1962), To Anna Karina in Jean Aurel's De L 'Amour (1966).

Across the Atlantic, Edie Sedgwick used stripes and leggings in Andy Warhol-directed Kitchen (1965).

Patti Smith, on the other hand, recited prose in New York in the 1970s in a sea shirt and jeans.

From the coquettish boy to the educated lady, the appeal of the sea shirt transcends time and gender.

Today, from Sienna Miller to Alexa Chung, the sea shirt still connects the beat generation and Bohemians in a way that is beyond words.