Show Your Summer Stripes

If you follow me on Instagram, these two outfits may seem familiar. If you don't follow me on Instagram, well, first thing's first, you're missing out. There's a common theme within my current outfits and as you can probably gather from the title, the common denominator is stripes. I always tend to gravitate towards stripes when buying clothes. It's a trend that will never die. Even if it does, at some point, become completely uncool to rock stripes, you'll have to pry my striped clothing out of my cold dead hands.

Few things beat a black or navy and white striped t-shirt. It's a staple, truly. A must have in a wardrobe. A top ten essential pick. The breadwinner. I'm starting to not make sense, so let's just go back to stripes.

One way to have fun with the forever trend of stripes is vertical stripes. I love that this silk pajama style top has vertical stripes varying in color and thickness. It makes it less of a Beetlejuice print, though I will admit that I do have reverse Beetlejuice culottes from Zara and they make my world go 'round. 

You can totally style this type of top different ways. I saw Alexa Chung styled her pinstripe button-down shirt with an embroidered fluted skirt, which inspired me to wear my denim skirt yesterday. 

For a bonus, she also had a sweater or sweatshirt tied strategically on her shoulders, adding a sort of  East Coast preppy vibe to her look. It can be tucked into a pair of distressed boyfriend denim (I like to keep the last button undone and only tuck in one side of the shirt), light wash denim shorts, even a pair of a like colored silk pant for a full on pajama look. I think it has a really relaxed look that still manages to be chic and put together.

Top - Elizabeth and James (via Cleveland Consignment Shoppe) | Skirt - American Eagle | Sneakers - Steve Madden | 

Sunglasses - Dior | Bag - Rebecca Minkoff (via CCS)

And now we have our traditional horizontal stripes. I love the colors of this sweater. They're almost pastel while still being really standard colors. The red and blue aren't too crazy and are really easy to style. This is such a quintessential summer color combination and the sweater works perfectly for those chilly summer afternoons and evenings. Even if it was sweltering hot, just tie this (or any striped long sleeved top) around your waist while you wear a pair of cut-offs and a plain white t-shirt. 

There's no wrong was to style a simple sweater like this. Wear it with jeans, tucked in or out (same with shorts, it just happened to be chilly this day). Make it snug against your frame when you tuck it into a mid-length button up white denim skirt and a pair of cognac sandals. It's a versatile piece for plenty of simple looks. Just switch up the color, style, or length of your denim on the bottom and adjust your shoes accordingly and you have a whole new look. Also, totally optional, but usually stripes inspire me to pop on a bold red lipstick. My favorites are Too Faced Lady Balls and NARS Dragon Girl!

Top - Gap | Jeans - BDG | Sneakers- Adidas | Bag - Saint Laurent | Sunglasses - Quay | Earrings - Wandering Wardrobe