Why do barbershop quartets wear stripes?

In the early days, barbershop quartets wore red and white stripes to identify with barber poles on the outside of a barbershop. As the popularity of the singing style took hold, many quartets became more formal. Boater hats were popular with the college crowds and the quartets adopted white pants and boater hats to go along with the red and white theme. Arm garters were just plain popular with everybody because few shirts were tailor made to fit arm lengths, but were seldom seen under men's jackets. Because a lot of barbershop quartet singing took place outdoors in the summer, the coats usually came off, and the quartets usually had their red arm garters on. Many of the Ivy League college groups didn't bother with coats. A white shirt, red and white vest, white pants, boater hats, and a red arm garter was the "spiffy" costume of the day for young men singing in the sumer.