My stripes (wiw)

A month ago, Angie wrote about the versatile, essential striped top. I always like the idea of stripes, but I struggle to fit my striped tops into my look. Reading the post, I realized that the black and white striped tops I own are higher contrast than I prefer, and black and grey stripes might work better.

I happened to find this Rag & Bone tee at Wastelands, my favorite used clothing store. I think it works! Amusingly, almost every element of this top is something I often avoid:

1. stripes
2. heather grey - I prefer solid grey, but here the heather grey gives a nice visual texture.
3. boxy - my mid-sized chest and broader shoulders mean that some boxy tees don't sit right on me, but this one works. 
4. linen - by all rights I should love linen, but I rarely reach for my linen tees, maybe because the black tends to fade.

I also found my ideal cotton cardigan at the Gap this week. Lighter weight but still provides some warmth, cropped at the perfect length for me, and the sleeve design leaves space for bulkier short sleeves like the cropped tee. Score! There is a thinner version, in black linen, that I might also snap up. (I'll return that Brandy Melville wool cardigan, because this is more what I was searching for.)

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21 Comments

  • Emily K replied 6 years ago

    Don't you love when you make a liar out of yourself like that?  :-)  Also, I think you might have found for me, my perfect cardigan--thanks!

  • Runcarla replied 6 years ago

    Clever of you to figure a way - from the look of it you're sorted!

  • replied 6 years ago

    I think you're on to something. The only stripes I have are lower contrast.

  • Jaime replied 6 years ago

    A case where the designer version of the basic striped tee is superior to the less carefully designed version perhaps. Looks good any which way you explain it.

  • Angie replied 6 years ago

    You look GREAT in that striped top. A nice personalized essential. 

  • Sara L. replied 6 years ago

    Looks good. I really like the low contrast stripes.

  • rachylou replied 6 years ago

    Looking very French :)

  • replied 6 years ago

    It really is a perfect shirt for you!.  I so admire the restraint you show in searching and waiting until you find the just-right version of a piece to suit your style and color palette.  

  • replied 6 years ago

    I love that top--it looks great on you!

  • Inge replied 6 years ago

    You are spot on, Greyscale. These stripes are totally you! That's a great top and I'm loving the new cardigan too.

  • Angie replied 6 years ago

    Fixed my typo.

    *eyes rolling*

    Sorry. 

  • Greyscale replied 6 years ago

    Thanks for the boost, everyone! Emily, I hope it ends up being a great sweater for you too.

    Oh, another realization / confirmation: anything with short dolman sleeves is the right answer for me. It deals with my muscular upper arms and shoulders and bit of a bust. Now I just need a jacket with similar sleeves to fit over it!

  • Suz replied 6 years ago

    This tee is perfect on you. Love it. 

    I have a similar love for batwings for some reason. I am considering ordering those cardigans, too! Thank you!

    And thank you so much for your thoughtful comments on my thread the other day. I really appreciated your insights and think you made some excellent points about the overlap between our styles and preferences. I will be reviewing that again. Merci beaucoup! 

  • Greyscale replied 6 years ago

    De rien!

    Speaking of which, Rachy, thanks! My last name is French but usually I don't quite pull off the style to go along with it. ;)

  • karen13 replied 6 years ago

    Nice! And low contrast stripes are something I may have to investigate. I love stripes but they don't love my broad shoulders and short waist. 

    Great background summation on the white board! I am re-learning pre-calculus to help a friend (I'm cheating with access to the solutions book, so it isn't nearly as impressive at it should be), so I love seeing real life math.

  • Greyscale replied 6 years ago

    Karen, I love that I get to use math so often in my work. Those were written by a student who was using some definitions haphazardly and I put on my (slightly) stern face and asked him to be more precise. He realized it was more precise to write it in math than say it in words. Very effective!

    I'm glad you're getting to help your friend with math. I don't think having the solutions is cheating at this stage!

  • Jenni NZ replied 6 years ago

    I love your photos with the white board as well, and this time I've noticed the amazing monochrome ( tiled? vinyl?) floor also. And I love the tee! Our styles actually converge with this one!
    Also, your hair looks great in the ponytail. A refreshing change, of course I like it down too.

  • Emily K replied 6 years ago

    Greyscale--I bought the same Gap cardigan in light grey and black. :-)   I like it...but...the black really sheds.  Have you noticed that?  I wore it, first, over jeans and I didn't notice the shedding.  Then I wore it over white pants and black fuzz was EVERYWHERE.  It was pretty bad.  I liked the look of the outfit, but the fuzz-factor will probably prevent me from wearing to again.  I figured you might not notice right away because you'll probably style the cardi with other dark clothes...but consider yourself warned!  ;-)

  • Greyscale replied 6 years ago

    Oh no! That's too bad. I hope the grey one works well for you!

    I do only wear mine over black clothes, so I haven't noticed anything. The reviews did say that some people had problems with pilling, too, though I haven't yet. I was considering duplicating this sweater, but I won't if it's not going to hold up well.

  • replied 6 years ago

    Oh I missed this!
    It's nice to figure out the style details that work and don't work for us (in your case, that you like low contrast stripes, and in mine, that I like thicker ones, or wiser spaced ones).

    I really enjoyed your segue from "de rien" to acknowledging Rachy's comment :-)

  • unfrumped replied 6 years ago

    The top looks really good!
    I also do better with low contrast stripes, or more dark proportional to the amount of white- like a thin white stripe on black or navy. Figuring that out helped me focus.

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