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The Best Striped Tees, According to People Whose Taste We Trust by Bella Druckman
As the daughter of a French woman, I’m no stranger to a stripe. I’ve been wearing striped tees and turtlenecks since long before I had autonomy over my wardrobe — but now I wear the pattern by choice and with pride. And, of course, I’m not alone: Stripes are beloved by just about the whole Strategist team (without fail, any team meeting will include at least a couple of people in striped shirts), and lately I’ve noticed them popping up on everyone from Olivia Rodrigo and Timothée Chalamet to Doechii on the red carpet at the Grammys.
To help you find the best striped T-shirts to add to your wardrobe, I interviewed a range of fashion-minded people — including stylists, Substack writers, content creators, and my colleagues — about their favorite striped tees, both long- and short-sleeved. Our conversations turned up heritage Bretons from French brands; preppy, structured T-shirts that you can wear to the office; and relaxed tees that would look right at home on a sailboat (or at your next summer park picnic) — all of which you’ll find here with options for women and men at a range of price points.
Best striped tees for women
Kule The Malibu $108
Strategist senior editor Hilary Reid calls this one of her “all-time favorite summer T-shirts.” She owns two of them and reports that after lots of wearing (and washing) they look just about as good as new. “The fabric is truly tissue-light, which might make it seem like it wouldn’t hold up well after multiple washes and years of wear, but they’ve held up amazingly well over the five-ish years I’ve had them,” she says. Since the tee has one grouping of stripes rather than stripes throughout, Reid finds it feels slightly less casual than your average T-shirt, making it more of “a look” that works well on its own with jeans or shorts. Just note: A representative from Kule told me the brand is retiring the style, so now’s your last chance to add it to your closet.
Kule The Modern $88
Reid is also a fan of Kule’s The Modern, which she first tried in 2019 when we investigated the enduring appeal of the stripe and a number of new (at the time) stripes-specific brands. Kule’s Modern tee was the “best of the batch,” according to Reid, and while many of those start-ups have since closed up shop, you can still find Kule’s Modern tee in a large spectrum of colors. It’s this range and the tee’s high-quality, 100 percent cotton fabric (that’s substantial-feeling and not at all see-through) that makes the Modern a piece that stylist Conni Jespersen recommends to her clients again and again. After testing the long-sleeved version of the tee for the past four months myself, I can confidently second her recommendation: Whether being used as a bottom layer on cold winter days or as a colorful accessory to my favorite pair of jeans, the shirt feels simultaneously lightweight, breathable, and made to last.
Kule The Turtleneck $118
Kule’s striped turtleneck is made of the same lightweight cotton as the Modern tee above, so it’s easy to layer and wear on its own, just like your favorite T-shirt. “The material is smooth and soft and hasn’t pilled through multiple wears and washings,” Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang told me. And since the most important part of a turtleneck is, well, its neck, this one could be described as the Goldilocks of collars: “The collar is neither too constricting nor too floppy, neither uncomfortably high (even for a short-necked person like me) nor some awkward in-between length,” Yang reports. Since she prefers a more relaxed fit, she sized up, but if you’d like it to be more form-fitting, go with your usual size.