How to Wear Nautical Stripes and Not Look Like a Sailor

It is a nautical stripes summer. My God, they are everywhere and on everything. Basically, if you can wear it, you can find it in stripes. Nautical stripes are very classic and timeless. They will never go out of style. However, like leopard, another classic, every now and then, they go beyond just being classic, they become a trend. This means that you can invest in nautical stripes and take comfort in the fact that whatever you do buy you'll be able to wear for a long time.

The only potential drawback of nautical stripes is that they can look, well, very nautical. This can be fine if this is the look you want, but if it isn't, you may want to modify a bit. Below are three looks using nautical stripes that won't make you look like a sailor.

How to Wear Nautical Stripes and Not Look Like a Sailor

Outfit #1

Two color prints can often be treated like solid colors, particularly when one of the colors is white. I wrote a post on this that you can read. Nautical stripes definitely fall into this category and can be combined with other colors, even several at once. Basically, treat nautical stripes like solid navy.

In the outfit above, I styled this casual nautical striped mini skirt from J. Crew with a basic white t-shirt. To finish the look and add some color, I played with coral and pink, an unlikely yet pretty combination. I used these flat sandals from Tory Burch, a pink crossbody bag from Kate Spade and brought the colors together using this beaded necklace from Panacea.

Outfit #2

Another post that I wrote a while ago was all about combining prints and patterns. One of these easiest ways to do is it combine a linear print with a rounder or more organic one. This makes nautical stripes super easy to combine with prints. You can try pairing a printed scarf with a Breton or doing what I did in the look above when I styled this ruched striped top from Boden with a pair of printed lace up flats from J. Crew. For the rest of the outfit I used these cropped khaki pants from Theory, drop earrings from Stella & Dot, a gold bangle from Robert Lee Morris and, to pick up a bit of the teal in the shoes, this crossbody bag from Stella McCartney.

Outfit #3

Of course, you don't have to wear nautical stripes in your clothing. Like I said, if you can wear it you will find it in nautical stripes this season, and this includes accessories. In the outfit above, I added this striped scarf from Banana Republic to this casual look of a white button down shirt from Madewell, a pair of distressed skinny jeans from Lucky Brand and magenta espadrilles from Via Spiga. The outfit is further accessorized with a blue saddle bag and gold double hoop earrings from Ann Taylor. The best part about accessorizing with nautical stripes is you can add this trend without adding any clothing to your wardrobe. What you owns gets an instant refresher.

Shop for more nautical stripes

With all the nautical stripe options out there, check out these additional styles.