Amour Vert Francois 3/4 sleeve tee | $78 – Made in the US
Comme des Garcons Play | $125
Rag & Bone/JEAN | $125
I have owned striped tops/tees over the years (most recently the Everlane cropped version), but you’ll probably notice I don’t wear them at all lately, and that’s because what I owned, I either wore out, or sold/gave away. I am drawn to stripes, in theory, but when I get them in my wardrobe, they stay there. As in, I never ever wear them.
I did have a striped top from Zara many years ago I loved to death, literally. It was dolman long sleeved, and slimmer at the bottom, so it hung beautifully, and fit my small-0n-top-larger-hips body shape as a more cropped style. It was a lightweight rayon, cream with black stripes. I loved that top.
I’ve had striped tops by APC, tried one by Saint James, and of course the Everlane cropped striped top, all of which I liked, mostly, but didn’t end up being very versatile for me. Depending on the stripe, I guess I find striped shirts quite brash, like a loud print. To which I’m sure most of you are laughing, but for a person who doesn’t wear color, or patterns at all, stripes can be a little abrasive.
But, I do still love stripes, and perhaps I just need a more subtle version, white with thin black stripes, like the Rag & Bone/JEAN top above. I like that style, and looser fit, and of course, cropped length. As much as I’ve ALWAYS WANTED a Comme Des Garcons Play striped shirt, with the heart logo, I should probably ease into the more in-your-face stripes by going slowly, starting with subtle.
Yes, I know you guys are still laughing…
FYI – everything at Zady, including this striped linen top is 50% off with code FALLCLEARANCE – and if you use my referral link at Amour Vert, you’ll get $25 off
Oh, and Kowtow always has good stripes, here’s an organic cotton striped top on sale at Garmentory (use my referral link for a $20 credit), and if you’re into the cold shoulder look, I love this one by LnA.
Finally…what are your favorite striped tops? do you wear stripes? how do you style them? or are you like me, and find them intimidating 😉
More stripes I love:
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I wear this often I think the black & gray work great! https://www.everlane.com/collections/womens-tees/products/womens-boatneck-tee-grey-black
I do have a black/white stripe that I like but it’s too much white…
I don’t make the same clothing choices you do so I tend to read your blog for your thoughts.
For example, I think most of the striped tees shown are what I would think of as muted. I like stripes more on the order of the thicker ones, La Garconne? Did love your concept of stripes being abrasive and brash. That’s probably why I wear them. I like elements to have a controlled element. Geometrics of any kind seem to have that built in control. So if it’s a more relaxed fit like a tee, then it’s juxtaposed with the more rigid design. I usually will use striped tops to pair with florals. I recently got a dark background floral purse and ballet flats – to go with my geometrics, natch. 😀
I also like the more pronounced stripes because in some garments they will bend to my curves. Kind of like bending my wardrobe to my will, eh. 😀
I own that Play tee, with the fierce heart, and I love it. It shrank, so I couldn’t wear it for a while, but I think with the advent of high-waist jeans it’ll be on again:).
However, I find a Jigsaw tee that’s heathered gray and white to be the most subtle, and therefore the easiest to wear, of all my stripeys.
I also kept buying striped shirts and not wearing them…I love them on others, but the traditional Breton striped shirt just doesn’t do anything for me.
However, I found this Amour Vert striped dress that I really like. The cut and fabric drape well on me, and I think it’s much more flattering than some more traditional striped shirts.
http://www.rodales.com/perry-striped-dress/E003540003.html?cid=ppc_Google_Rodales_PLA_Wear_PerryStripedDress_Phrase&gclid=COTon6GUj88CFUhgfgodqSEFzg
I love stripes and wear them often – probably more often than my large bust should allow. But hey – nothing is going to hide the fact I have large breasts, so I might as well wear clothing I like, right? (well, I don’t wear button down shirts, but that’s a fit issue, not a “hide my breasts” thing) I prefer a long sleeve tee so don’t wear stripes as much in the summer. Though I have short and long b/w striped dresses, and I just got a striped tank. But mostly I wear the stripes in the fall & winter.
I love plaid too. Hello, my name is Kelly and I a prep from Connecticut, no matter where I live or travel 😉
I had a white and navy striped top from LL Bean but as with anything vaguely white in my wardrobe the dinginess the developed at the neckline got to be too much. I’ve replaced it with at similar J Crew top that I thrifted.
Anyone have any advice on keeping white-ish clothes white-ish?
I adore stripes but like you they don’t get as much play as other pieces in my closet. I do wear my striped linen scoop neck Everlane T quite a bit but am hoping it softens soon, still newish and stiffer than I’d like it. Some of my other stripes were pricey and have a ton of white so I am anxious about staining. Maui is dirty as is rural and I work in a farm setting and the dirt gets in your car from the AC etc. I also drink coffee in the car, eat lots of salads with balsamic, etc. I’m hanging onto them as I think when I move back to Honolulu and live/work in a high rise again I’ll wear more. I do love my Current Elliott 3/4 sleeve white with very thin grey stripes. It’s fitted yet not tight and very flattering. A little distressed and very soft. I also love my Marrimekko, it’s an oversized architectural shape in black and white. Very mod and minimal. I have a black and cream Saint James (the unisex style) that is oversized, not figure flattering but a good comfy loose basic with skinny jeans or cutoffs. I didn’t like the women’s 3/4 sleeve Saint James and sold those, didn’t fit me right (too broad in the shoulder and tight in the chest for my shape). I also sold the Commes I had, not soft enough for me and fitted, better for a straight body type. I have had wonderful striped tops from F21 and a striped boutique maxi skirt that I wore to death as I didn’t worry about them so much so I do think it is good to have one fast fashion stripe in my wardrobe but I know that may be something you’re trying to avoid. I love the global one above!
I have lots and lots and lots of stripes. Blue/navy, blue/cream, black/white, black/gray, gray/white, gray/yellow, cream/blush, Army green/beige … you get the picture. I prefer long sleeves but have a few short and 3/4 mixed in. I often wear a striped top with a cardigan in one of the matching or coordinating colors. Some times I have a “stripe week” and wear something striped every day (I work p/t, different shifts, and hardly ever seem the same people every day, so why not?)
I have some striped trousers as well but nowhere near as many as the tops.
Sigh …
Just. Can’t. Wear. Stripes.
Not like these, anyway. The last Breton-type top I tried, I couldn’t think of anything but an old-school jailhouse uniform. They manage never to look like that on the very many of people who can wear them well – including all these models – but on my body, they’re terrible. And the ones with dropped shoulders make me look like a linebacker – a jailhouse linebacker 😉
Really want to find one that works. Maybe a loose-fit lineny one – almost a light sweater – with a lower, wide bateau neck, with the dark stripes on a beige background instead of white, I’m thinking.
I also get tense when washing clothes that have dark and white together. So Breton stripes and I are pretty much doomed.
Not a horizontal stripe wearer. I find the best cure for continuing to buy items I won’t wear is to not purge the unworn item. Denim blazer? Have one, don’t wear it. White eyelet dress? Have one, don’t wear it. Etc. Since deciding to hang on to these “mistakes” I haven’t been tempted to repeat the purchases.
WoW, what a great technique.
that is a very interesting strategy!! maybe i’ll try that – it seems a good way when you think you need another one, you can just say, ‘oh, I have one of those already!’ that usually stops me from buying another…but you’re right, if i’ve purged the similar item, i’m usually tempted to try again.
i get that way too! about washing clothes with stripes or patterns. so funny. although, seriously, why does the dye not seem to transfer??
i just remembered that i actually HAVE a striped top now that I LOVE TO DEATH, and it’s by lululemon; i’ve had it for years. i only wear it when it’s cold, as a layer at home, because it’s too big and the sleeves are ridiculously long on me, but it’s one of my favorite tops of all time. i just forgot about it because it’s put away for summer 😉
i love that! stripe week!
The best one is hands down from Petit Bateau – classic mariniere I stock up when i am in France but you can order online also.
This is brilliant.
Agree – brilliant strategy!!
Tania, you may be my closet’s angel this year! I have an old unisex Saint James shirt in heavy-duty cotton—and by old, I mean 33-years old, purchased by my parents on their first trip to France together before I was born, worn for years by my dad, then adopted and loved to shred by me over the past 15 years…OLD OLD OLD—and I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I need to retire this well-loved shirt, even for farm work (I think we work in similar conditions, you and I!).
I’ve been browsing the Saint James website and while I know I can’t expect to find an exact replacement, I want the closest thing—boxy, unflattering, sorta scratchy, barely any stretch, you know, *vintage* feeling. The ones I’m considering so far are…
1. http://www.saintjamesboutique.com/french-breton-stripe-shirts/guildo-r-a.html
2. http://www.saintjamesboutique.com/men-nautical-style/breton-striped-shirt/minquiers-moderne.html
3. http://www.saintjamesboutique.com/men-nautical-style/breton-striped-shirt/guildo-r-a.html
…with #3 probably being my best bet, but I’m still holding off. Are any of those the one you wound up with, and if not, may I ask which SJ you have? Yours sounds pretty close to what I’m looking for…
Thanks for indulging my nostalgic yarn, Tania, and for any leads! 🙂
I have this one too in the grey and white. Wear it all the time.
I think I have #1 except mine doesn’t have narrow stripes. But definitely has the shorter sleeves, which I roll up. White/cream with a thicker dark stripe (have a navy/white & a cream/black). It’s like a more substantial T material. I actually bought mine at a local women’s boutique several years ago.
Stripes can be flattering but there’s more than one thing going on. The reason the skirt with the really narrow stripes works, is known as the ladder effect. Narrow stripes encourage the eye of the viewer to climb up the body. Visually that works like a vertical line which makes the eye move in the same way. You also need to consider the contrast between the colours of the stripes (lower is better) and where the style lines fall on the body. Dropped shoulders make most people look wider and stripes make it worse. Matching the stripes at the body sleeve join of a set in sleeve eliminates that problem.