We investigate the orientation of nonlinear stripe patterns in finite
domains. Motivated by recent experiments, we introduce a control parameter drop
from supercritical inside a domain to subcritical outside without boundary
conditions at the domain border. As a result, stripes align perpendicular to
shallow control parameter drops. For steeper drops, non-adiabatic effects lead
to a surprising orientational transition to parallel stripes with respect to
the borders. We demonstrate this effect in terms of the Brusselator model and
generic amplitude equations
