Stripes Are Eternally Cool—And We Have Proof

Twenty-eight ways to work them into your home.

Julia Stevens

Updated Oct 12, 2018 8:41 PM

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From low-slung seating to mismatched cabinets to color-blocked rugs, there’s always something new to talk about in design. But we’re not here to discuss the trends that come and go—instead we’re celebrating our favorite forever-in-style pattern: stripes.

When we say stripes are a classic, we really mean it. They made their first appearance in medieval times—mainly seen in the garments of prisoners—until the end of the 19th century, when Queen Victoria dressed her son in a striped outfit for a royal yacht boarding event, a signal that they were certifiably chic. Picked up by Coco Chanel from there and woven into 1950s cinema, stripes were fully prominent in design from the ’60s onward.

Whether in a preppy, nautical, minimal, or maximal context, linear motifs span across nearly every style. And because of that, they’re universally loved—I mean, how many times have you heard someone say “I hate stripes”? Exactly.

And we’ve been noting them everywhere lately, so we rounded up every kind of stripe, from wide bands to the faintest of ticking to those that aren’t really about staying within the lines. We promise you’ll never grow tired of these bold pieces, because a classic never gets old.