oh, good question. I heard Sesshomaru's appearance was modeled after a Chinese legend, can't say which one but the research shouldn't be that hard with Google.
Or you could just read through this, i got a kick out of this article a while back, but it does have some interesting information that could answer your question :)
I'm not posting the actual link because the last time I tried posting something from this web site my account got banned xD Yeah for a scary three days.
of course I don't agree with everything this person wrote, considering Sesshomaru is not vain, he's just naturally beautiful! Yes the guy has strong opinions about certain things to each his own :p
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On a further not I've always affiliated the crescent moon with nature, change and femininity among other things. Maybe any of these elements had an influence. Can't say anything about the stripes, I just don't know.