How To Wear Stripes Without Looking Wide

How To Wear Stripes Without Looking Wide

Stripes can be tricky. But there are some rules that can help us all wear them, whether we’re petite, regular or plus size.

  • The wider the horizontal, the more your eye will slow down and focus on it. Which means it can make you look wider and for most of us that’s not a good thing.
  • The narrower the stripe, the harder it is for our eye to focus on one line. So narrow horizontals actually start working like verticals, moving the eye up and down, rather than side to side. This is a good thing!
  • Avoid wearing a striped shirt or blouse with a similarly striped pair of pants. As much as possible, striped tops must be paired with non-striped neutral-colored pants or striped skirts must be paired with neutral-colored tops.

So if you love stripes but don’t want to add width to your body, stick with narrow stripes. The jacket below is a great way to add stripes if you’re lower body is wide. The striped skirt is cute but would definitely add width and weight to my lower body, I would never wear it.

How to wear stripes without looking wide

If you love stripes but don’t think you look good in them, add them with accessories like this nautical purse.

I hope this has answered the question about wearing stripes. Vertical stripes work the same way but can be more slenderizing.

Are you adding stripes to your spring wardrobe? How do you wear them?

Beauty For the Heart~~It’s a new week! I’m sure, like me, you have a busy week ahead of you. But let’s start it with scripture that will encourage and strengthen us.

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4

Have a blessed day!

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  1. I’ve stayed away from horizontal stripes. But, I bought a striped dress at Old Navy last Fall and it is very flattering….even though I’ve got full hips. It was indeed a thin striped dress.

  2. Hi Cyndi.

    I love the look of stripes…on others. I am actually trying to find some pieces that flatter my frame. I read something not to long ago that said we should match the width of the stripe to our frame. i.e., a smaller framed person would wear more of a skinny stripe and a heavier framed person would wear a wider stripe. I’ve kept this in mind and found that the slimmer stripes do look better on me.

    You look beautiful in your dress.

    Gina

  3. Good Monday Cyndi! I missed this post last week. You look so cute and so current in your stripe dress with your denim jacket and that great statement necklace. You carry those off so well. I have always preferred a narrow stripe because I always felt that stripes kind of overwhelmed me. I have a couple of narrow vertical stripe blouses. I never thought about a skirt! I have the figure a 12 yr. old boy. Straight, nary a curve. That wide, horizontal stripe just might give the look of a waistline and hips! I’m game for that, thanks for the tip!

    how did you know that Isaiah 26: 3-4 was exactly what I needed today???

  4. These are such helpful tips, now that I know how to wear stripes I may add more to my wardrobe! Thanks Cyndi!

  5. I stopped wearing horizontal stripes a few years ago after seeing a picture of myself in a striped sweater. The sweater was cute but the stripes must have been too wide! I think I’ll take your advice and find a top with very narrow stripes.