earn your stripes // 9 Mar 2011

I am writing this to you completely stuffed to the gills with pancakes… I loaded on every sweet topping known to man and thus the reason I must very shortly roll to bed. I hope that you all enjoyed Pancake Day! (and you know full well that the flour you bought specially will be hidden away in the cupboard gathering dust until you throw it out this time next year – just me?)
So onto today’s post, and I’m bringing you a trend that is never very far from the catwalks, and in turn the high street; but it is one that, like Demi Moore, never ages. The new take on stripes for this season is bold colours and statement prints, and as ‘Prada-meets-Jil Sander’ (ooh, that rhymes) as they may be, I will always be fond of a Breton stripe. It is the timid French relation to this new breed of colour-blocking stripe, but one that was born to be paired with huge sunglasses and ballet flats… and a look that French Connection in particular does so well. A word of warning though: keep the stripy garments on the feminine side. You don’t want to look like you’ve taken a wrong turn on the way to the Rugby Club.

{images via pinterest, tumblr, A Touch of Luxe, Runaway Coast, Creamy Life, Made by Mowbrays & Inside the Paper Box}

1. Topshop stripe pencil skirt – £32
2. Jigsaw cotton stripe scarf – £45
3. Monsoon Fusion candy stripe maxi dress – £75
4. Office Mena bow sandals – £80
5. Warehouse brushstroke stripe tee – £25
6. Fashion Union stripe bangles – £8
7. French Connection Somerset stripe dress – £42
8. Diane von Furstenberg striped canvas tote – £65
9. Kookai striped sweater – £55
10. Warehouse half sleeve stripe dress – £35
11. Topshop Laney patent sandals – £75
12. Accessorize stripe socks – £3.50
13. Warehouse stripe tunic dress – £65