There are more or less three different basic types of stripes;

1. thin stripes

2. standard width stripes

3. spacious or wider stripes.

Note that the following guide is only considering stripes that do not clash and shirts that do not have more than two colors. This generally works for most colors but the guide is based on using white as one of the colors.

Like it so far? Get our completely FREE eBook by signing up in the upper right column.

Are you short?
If you are short, stripped shirts can make you look taller. That’s right the perfect miracle cure for shortness!… no not quite, but they can in fact make a visual impression. I in fact am on the short side myself, and I wear stripes often.

The stripes that do the best job against shortness are the “standard width stripes”, these often focus the eye on lengthening the body.

As for “thin stripes”, they do not have as significant an effect as the stripes are often so narrow that the eye does not conceive them as stripes from the distance. That said, the “spacious and wider stripes” can be great as well.

They work in two ways, firstly, they give you a taller look and secondly, they give you a wider look. The wider look increases your shoulders, however if you have a larger stomach this can work against you and increase the visual size of your beer belly.

Are you tall?
For the tall man who does not want to get taller, do not wear vertical stripes. However, if you do not mind looking just a little bit taller go for the “spacious or wider stripes”. They are harder to find now a days, but look bold and modern.

The “narrow stripes” are also an option for the tall man especially if you choose a classic combination of blue and white.

Basically just be wary of those vertical stripes on your dress shirts, if you are slim and tall you will want to with horizontal stripes, but more on that another day!