Stripe Patterns and Prints : Styling Tips & Types Explained
How to Wear Stripes
Stripes have always been in fashion and have a huge effect on your figure adjustments. We give you some recommendations below to use stripes wisely:
Horizontal and vertical stripes have different jobs. Horizontal ones make your body slimmer, whereas vertical ones widen your body. For example, if you have a teardrop-shaped body, avoid striped bottoms, they will highlight your curvy hips. Instead, choose solid dark colour bottoms when you are pairing them with striped tops. If you have a triangle body shape and you would like to enhance your upper half, then you can use horizontal striped tops with different colours.
Wear vertical on the bottom and horizontal on the top. Wear vertical stripes with your bottoms and skirts, especially if you are on the shorter side. If you’re just starting to wear stripes, wear them with a block of colour on your other half. Emphasize only one part of the body. Pair them with a neutral colour if you want to feel safe.
The thicker the stripes the wider the area looks. When it comes to more form-fitting pieces (dresses, skirts, etc.), thinner stripes will typically be more flattering.
The wider the stripe, the bolder the statement. If you’re hesitant about stripes, try pinstripes at first and once you feel comfortable in them.
The background is also important when you choose striped outfits. The dark background will also make you look slimmer opposite to the light background.
Make sure you complement or contrast the colour of your stripes when choosing the other half of your clothing. With a multicoloured top, you can pick out one of the colours and wear a matching pair of leggings.
Don’t be afraid of mixing widths. A wider, horizontal striped top paired with a wide leg thinner striped pair of pants is certainly a chic look. As well, mixing horizontal and vertical on top and bottom is a great option, too.
Stripes can be mixed easily with other prints, such as florals and geometric patterns. The most versatile striped garments are white with black stripes–they’re just the easiest to mix and match with everything else.
There are different ways of styling STRIPEs:
One of the easiest of wearing stripes is simply pairing a striped top with jeans. Such as loose-knit striped sweaters with boyfriend jeans, high waist jeans with a striped shirt with ruffle details, denim shorts with striped t-shirts, denim skirts of any length with a feminine striped blouse, a colourful, striped t-shirt with a pair of flare jeans etc.
Tights and leggings are also perfect options that will complement striped tops such as tunics. Horizontal striped loose cardigans are very popular with skinny pants or leggings. You can even put a skinny belt on them to break the look if you like.
A striped skirt with a plain top can look fabulous, as can a striped top with a plain skirt or jeans.
Wear a striped shirt or tees with simple black or white bottoms. Since the stripes already become visual, you can break the tone down by choosing black or white.
Vertical striped jackets and blazers can be combined with jeans or solid bottoms to create a very trendy look.
Black and white striped dresses go great with red accessories to create a dramatic look.
Feminine, long and flowing multi-colour striped dresses come in all styles and fabrics and are ideal in the summer.
Wearing a pair of black and white striped trousers is both modern and feminine. Pair them with a tight- or loose-fitting jumper with a collared shirt or denim shirts.
Types of Stripes
Hairline
Very thin stripes close to each other, the name refers to the width of the hair.
Pencil/Dress
Thin stripes as wide as drawn by a pencil.
Pin
Thin stripes spaced wide apart, the space between stripes are always much wider than the stripes.
Candy
Medium-scale stripes which are about 1/8 inches from each other, like the candy stick stripes.
Chevron/Herringbone
Stripes are laid out in a zigzag layout. They can have either a broadening or a narrowing effect on the figure depending on the way it is positioned.
Regimental
Diagonally placed stripes that have colours associated with the regiment’s uniforms and flags. It is mostly seen in neckwear.
Roman
Bright, multicoloured contrasting vertical stripes.
Chalk
Similar but wider than the pinstripes, it is a fainter line with some discontinuity at regular intervals, like it was drawn by a tailor's chalk.
Shadow
Stripes have lines adjacent to them looking almost like shadows.
Breton
Horizontally placed Bengal stripes with light and dark colour combinations.
Regency/Bengal/Tiger
Same width stripes are arranged in alternating light and dark colours. They are smaller than awning stripes but wider than candy stripes.
Awning
Very wide vertical stripes of solid colour on a lighter background. It resembles the pattern of awning fabrics.
Barcode
Vertical lines of varying widths resemble the barcode.
Bayadere
Colourful horizontal stripes of varying width. The name is derived from the dancers of India.