The 20 Best Striped T-shirts (original) (raw)
The Best Striped Tees, According to People Whose Taste We Trust
By ,a writer at the Strategist covering Gen Z shopping habits and fashion. She joined the Strategist in 2024. Previously, she wrote about gifts at Shop Today.
From left to right, see J.Crew’s boyfriend tee, Tommy Hilfiger’s stretch slim-fit tee, and Buck Mason’s Catalina tee.Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Ambar Pardilla, Keyshawn Frazier, 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 Selena Gomez and Lena Dunham to Jake Shane and Jon Hamm.
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.
Updated on April 2, 2026
I chatted with several more tasteful people about their favorite striped tees, including an elevated option from Ralph Lauren and a boxy top from Free People. I also double-checked that all our other picks are in stock and priced correctly.
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Like cashmere and turtlenecks, stripes are something that J.Crew does remarkably well — and it’s only gotten better under creative director Olympia Gayot’s tenure, at least according to Strategist writer Ambar Pardilla’s buying history. This tee is the latest addition to her J.Crew stripes collection that includes a crop of now-discontinued boatnecks, and she says it’s her favorite. It has a great weight — “not lightweight in the slightest (like some Everlane long-sleeve T-shirts I have are) or heavy (as Cos’ long-sleeve T-shirts can be),” she says — that makes it wearable year-round. “I like the marginally wider sleeves too — they don’t get in the way when putting your arm through a jacket, but they lay gently past your wrist,” she adds.
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Photo: Retailer
Over the years, we’ve awarded Everlane’s Box-Cut Tee a number of accolades, including a spot in our guide to the very best black tees — and it turns out the striped version is a favorite of personal stylist Gab Saper, too. She’s recommended it to multiple clients, one of whom called it “the perfectly shaped T-shirt,” thanks to its balance of being fitted and not too fitted. Since the shirt is on the shorter side, it’ll hit on average around the hip bone. “That’s a length that I find really useful because it’s not so short that you can’t tuck it in but it doesn’t feel so long,” says Saper.
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If you’re looking for a striped tee with a more streamlined silhouette, try Uniqlo’s mini tee. Like the Everlane T-shirt, it falls on the shorter side, but I find the length is just right on my short torso — so much so that I own six of the tee, one of which is striped. It falls right past my belly button and is soft enough to wear as a pajama top or as an everyday tee. I’ve even worn the darker colors I own to workout, and since it’s a blend of cotton and elastane, my arms have plenty of room to move around. Though my collection is already quite large, I can’t say that I won’t buy any more. Each tee costs $20, so I have a hard time saying no to new colors — and Uniqlo keeps releasing more.
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Strategist senior editor Hilary Reid’s Kule collection includes a discontinued tissue-light tee and a thicker tee called “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.
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I consider this a Breton that’s received the Free People treatment: It pairs familiar heavyweight cotton, three-quarter-length sleeves, and a boat neckline with a more boxy silhouette and bold stitching. Compared to Cos’ clean-cut tee above, I’d say this is the outfit. In the six months that I’ve been testing it, I’ve worn it French-tucked into jeans to the office and coffee meetings and over sweatpants during relaxed nights at home.
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After style blogger Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe tipped me off to a now sold out striped scoopback from Madewell, I called in a sample of this 100 percent cotton striped tee to try out for myself. With its heavyweight, lived-in feel and drop-sleeved shoulders, it has become one of my favorite cozy tees to throw on when I get home from work, but I could easily imagine wearing it styled with a belt and a sweater around my shoulders to the office, as well. (If you like the drop-sleeved look but prefer something lighter-weight, try Uniqlo’s, which is slightly more affordable, too.)
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Albeit on the heavier side, Madewell’s easy tee is still solidly in the T-shirt category. AYR’s half day tee, on the other hand, approaches the realm of crewneck sweatshirts, thanks to its substantial material and thick collar. It’s made of 100 percent cotton jersey that Strategist writer Dominique Pariso (who has gone on the record as one of our “sweaty writers”) says feels hefty without making her overheat. She’s worn it at least once a week since she bought it.
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Saint James, a French brand that’s been making Bretons since 1858, makes just about as classic a striped T-shirt as you can buy. There’s their standard Breton, of course, but this heart-adorned option, which comes recommended by image coach and personal stylist Maria Serena Ceravolo, the founder of Spaghetti Wardrobe, is a fun and more recently released take on the style. Ceravolo received it from her boyfriend’s grandmother — “a classic, French, elegant woman” — and recommends tucking it into high-waisted pants.
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Though this tee still has the cropped sleeves and boatneck-style neckline that have become synonymous with mariner-esque shirts, it’s a bit more rugged compared to something as preppy as, say, a Sézane shirt. In fact, Jesperson says, “Whereas Sézane is a little bit more of that French girl vibe, this one is a little bit more cool chic, kind of a Western California vibe.” In the last year that I’ve been testing it, the tee has been versatile enough to wear to work and then out to a nice dinner with friends. Of course, nearly $140 is a lot to spend on a shirt, but this one feels more like a sweater than a T-shirt and has a knit-style detailing to match.
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When influencer-founded fashion brand Rholend popped up in Toronto last year, content creator and writer of the newsletter Taking Notes Victoria Filippini figured she might as well pop in to see what the brand was all about. “I was just instantly so impressed by the quality of the fabrics they were using,” she told me and left with one of the brand’s mariner tees in hand. Compared to other thinner (and cheaper) shirts in her wardrobe, she says this one is made of a thick, heavyweight cotton that drapes nicely on her body and has the brand’s signature script “R” embroidered directly on the chest.
[_Editor’s note: Rholend lists all prices in Canadian dollars, so the price shown is an approximate conversion to U.S. dollars._]
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Menswear content creator Parker York Smith describes this tee as being like “something you’d find at a thrift store, in a good way.” Part of J.Crew’s vintage-wash line, the shirt is extra relaxed and comes prewashed. You’ll find it in the usual navy-and-white-striped varietyalong with a couple more colorful options that play with stripe size.
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At just $30, this Bronson tee is one of the most affordable Bretons I’ve seen and features the boatneck, sailor stripes, and heavyweight jersey that style is known for. Thanks to the thick material, “you don’t have to baby it” stylist Matt Rossi says, adding that the shirt, which also comes in a short-sleeved version, is “sturdy feeling, built to last, workwear inspired.”
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Octobre Éditions (the menswear counterpart to Sézane) makes their striped T-shirt out of a heavier-weight cotton that is 200 grams per square meter, about a third the weight you’d find in a towel. Menswear content creator Mac Bass is a fan: “What I really like about a lot of the October Edition shirts is their sleeves aren’t too long, especially on the short sleeves,” he says, which means this one hits right at the sweet spot, the top third of his upper arm, which he says are on the longer side.
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Like many of us at the Strategist, menswear content creator Keyshawn Frazierand founder of Office Of, a podcast dedicated to “all things men,” Yale Breslin are in on the Gapaissance. Both of them count this striped tee as one of their favorites because they don’t have to be precious with it. “The price is right, and I don’t feel guilty if I lose it or if I misplace it, or someone takes it home from me,” Breslin says. Still, the longer he has his — it’s been nearly a decade so far — the better he says it feels.
[_Editor’s note: Frazier and Breslin own an older version of the tee that’s no longer available, so we linked to the most recent version that’s still in stock._]
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Unlike many of the shirts on this list, this Tommy Hilfiger tee has some elastane to give it a little extra stretch. Frazier owns an older version of the shirt that the brand has since discontinued, but the new version features the same slim fit and cotton-elastane blend as the red-and-white striped tee you can see him sporting in a selfie at the top of this article. Though his shirt is newer, it reminds him of the Tommy Hilfiger shirts he sees again and again while thrift shopping. In fact, it was said thrift shopping that inspired his purchase: “I was like I’m getting so much Tommy in the thrift store, let me see what Tommy’s doing now … This is still in the same realm.”
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“I’m not a big logo guy, but there’s something about the pony that I’m not afraid to rock,” Breslin says. On days when he’s going for a “nautical flare,” he pairs this Ralph Lauren tee with anything from a blazer to khaki shorts and a pair of Converse. It’s designed with a structured collar that allows him to be rough on the tee — meaning even when he throws it in the wash and the dryer, it maintains its shape.
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Though Armor Lux hasn’t been making Bretons for as long as Saint James, it’s become a major player in the Breton world since it was founded nearly a century ago. My partner, Jack, picked this one up during a trip to Provence a couple years ago and says that even though he’s only been wearing it since he returned, “It seems like the type of thing that would age well.” The shirt is versatile: it’s lightweight enough that he can throw it on as a layer during cooler summer nights, and heavy enough to keep him warm inside on cold winter days. Compared to other more canvasy Bretons, he says, “This one has a little bit of stretch and is a bit more form fitting” in his usual size. So if you’re looking for a looser fit, you should size up.
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Marketing consultant Carlos Rivera-Anaya counts a “great T-shirt” and Alex Mill’s pleated pants as his daily uniform, meaning he’s always in the market for slub-cotton tees that are textured and breathable. This one from NN.07 is just that. “It’s not too light of a T-shirt to wear to work or to like a casual after work event, but it’s also not so heavy that it’s too structured and too boxy.” This also prevents the stripes from becoming waves — a cardinal sin in the striped-tee space.
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