Item of the week: the striped shirt

What it is:

A classic wardrobe staple that recurs season-after-season is that of the striped button-up shirt, a piece once reserved for the office but has evolved to become a significant part of the dailywear wardrobe. From pinstripes to pencil stripes, there is no end to the variations in this print. However, in SS24 collections, it was the wider awning and bengal looks that were definitive, and largely adopted in green and blue hues. As for the shirt itself, one characteristic that remained consistent throughout was elongated sleeving, which could be seen on both fitted and oversized silhouettes, alike.

Why you’ll want it:

The striped shirt is a wardrobe staple that has grown beyond the boundaries of formalwear and office attire to become a garment that defies both categorisation and seasons. Yet, for SS24, it was clear that its workplace roots came into play for designers, many of whom stuck to classic silhouettes and paired the look with two-piece suits and tailored pieces. While this may have been the case, there was also an essence of deconstruction and therefore anarchy among the styles on the runway, referencing a more casualised approach to formality that has run rampant in recent years.

Where we’ve seen it:

A good example of this could be seen in the collection of Coperni, which displayed what seemed to be a classic striped shirt design, albeit with exaggerated sleeving that extended beyond the unconventional suiting. Another to play on silhouette was Courrèges, which presented a striped shirt dress that was layered, twisted and draped for a contemporary effect. Carven’s shirt, meanwhile, bore resemblance to the pyjama top, leaning heavily into the aforementioned casualisation and straying from the traditional essence of the fitted button up, as seen in the collections of Vivienne Westwood and Celine.

How to style it:

If we take into consideration this casualised and more anarchic approach to office attire, it already makes the styling of what could be considered a largely basic piece a lot more interesting. For example, a standard shirt and blazer combo could be edged up with the use of flared leather pants – see Celine’s look – or a wrap around skirt that brushes the ankles. As a dress – which is a perfect addition to a summer wardrobe – the item can be dressed down with sneakers or elevated with strappy sandals, and tied together with a minimalist handbag and accessories.

Striped shirts are a classic garment, returning yearly as a go-to summer wardrobe piece that can take you from the office to the beach. Aligning with the casualisation of workplace attire, brands and designers have also been playing with this shape, twisting it from the confines of traditional tailoring into a more playful addition for new shoppers.