White t-shirt vs. Blue striped shirt

28 outfits with a lot of effortless styling ideas

The question I’m answering here: “Can I indeed treat a colorful blue striped shirt as a neutral, almost as easy to style as a white t-shirt, knowing that it’s such a classic and timeless piece?”

I tried everything (14 options) twice: with the white t-shirt I reach for all the time, and with my new light blue striped oversized and super soft shirt (spoiler alert: I’m so glad I bought it, I love it already). Because earlier this week I read a Substack Note from

Asta / Aastha

saying that a blue striped shirt is like a white tee for her. So I had to test this idea.

I spent 90 minutes trying things on. It was like having an intuitive styling session with myself. I like to do this when acquiring a new piece (here: the blue striped set), just to see how it goes with what I am already loving and wearing.

And of course, I took pictures. And of course, this letter is too long for email, so open this in the Substack app or in your browser at ardaschandra.substack.com (your destination for inspiration and creating a life from what feels good to you) now, and enjoy the show.

Welcome to The Edit!

• What you’ll get today:

  • a behind-the-scenes look at how I style and evaluate new wardrobe additions

  • a visual styling session (with photos), showing how both the white tee and blue striped shirt function across multiple looks

  • a real-time teaching moment, helping you see how to experiment with your closets by paying attention to what feels good and works visually

  • practical inspiration and an invitation to interact: save, screenshot, restack, or recreate looks

It’s not really a battle of white tee vs. blue striped shirt. But in a way, it is: if they are saying the same, which one would I pick, and when, and why? And if they are saying something different, then what would make me pick one over the other? How does it look?

*

You probably already have a good white tee. Mine is the Uniqlo U Crewneck Men’s in XS (it’s under 15€): I love the weight, the neckline, and the touch, but I shortened it into a boxy fit (I know, genius idea!) with my sewing machine. And if you are in the market for a blue striped shirt, here is my shopping edit, including the matching set I bought for myself (as much as I’d love to have the Tibi x Il Casa Caroseno one, I had to be creative and pragmatic here).

*

My invitation is for you to pay attention to the shapes, lines, color stories (I went quite minimal/neutral), proportions, etc. Take this as training for you to understand why it works or why it doesn’t. No right or wrong, just options. After all, it was just me having a styling session with myself, figuring it out in real time (you can book your intuitive styling session here, for real).

I know that if you pay attention for the next few minutes, you’ll find a lot of ideas for getting dressed. Save, screenshot, pin to Pinterest what speaks to you, and… restack your favourite outfit with a note telling me which one you’ll try to re-create! Nothing happens until after you commit! I want to see how you do a blue striped shirt too! Maybe we can even create a bank of outfits, with our styling ideas? Who’s in?

In the captions, I’m adding some styling comments for the blue striped shirt! I’m not linking things today because most things would be sold out items anyway. If you want to know where something is from, ask me in the comments, and I will tell you.

---

Here's everything, in the order I tried it on:

#14. With biker shorts

I buttoned only two buttons. I love the ease of the effortlessly ‘pushed up’ sleeves.

I love the crisp white lining on the cuffs, it gives good options! My playground/shopper bag is still available (and reduced)

#13. With cargo trousers

I buttoned 3 buttons here, and left the sleeves long. It’s a lot of fabric over my body, so I like the barely-there sandals to add some skin and balance the outfit.

I tucked the back of the shirt in a little tail to create a more interesting shape in the front, a double diagonal. The bag is elevating the casual vibe.

#12. With a scarf as mini-skirt

I wanted to see if I could do stripes + another pattern (the skirt) + textures (raffia + the strange shoes). By the pool, I could.

#11. With a pair of Vintage 501 light wash

I rolled up the sleeves past the elbows. That’s the secret for ease, it creates some skin element for good balance.

#10. With matching bermuda shorts

I buttoned 3 buttons, rolled up the sleeves above the elbows. A lot of lines going on: the stripes + the strappy sandals, but I like it.

#9. With a car coat

I rolled up the bermuda shorts so that they aren’t longer than the car coat length. I like the color palette!

A second for this bag, please!

#8. With a navy blazer

Shirt over the bermuda shorts, it created some good sculptural shape, and a blazer tucked in. Who would have thought of this? The barely-there sandals were doubling down on the playfulness of it.

#7 With a cream column skirt

I love the shirt left oversized, untucked. I would love to try this with a mesh skirt (but I don’t have one yet). I love the chill vibes, overall. A great vacation look for you to recreate.

I hardly button my shirt up, but when I do, I need to create new lines, such as here (using the tucking the fabric in a tail in the back trick), new diagonal lines.

#6. With washed black denim jeans

I half-tucked the shirt inside my pocket! Try it, it’s a good styling hack. It also shows how light and soft the fabric is.

See?

#5. With white vintage 501 jeans

Summer city vibes done right, right?

With the full white outfit, I was craving a third piece. The long-sleeve shirt in taupe does it (tied in a belt loop) for me.

#4. With denim bermuda shorts

Lovely color story, I wanted the heeled sandals to balance the rather masculine vibe.

#3. With matching bermuda shorts (again)

I tried the full set again, with a different bag and sunglasses. When I try something twice, it means I really like it!

#2 With big black skirt

It’s a lot of fabric, so I had to roll the sleeves up and wear sandals. You can’t see it here, but the skirt has a double-waist with some technical nylon, quite cool (you can see the skirt here, still available and reduced)

#1 With drawstring cotton trousers

What I’d be wearing tomorrow to run errands, if I have less than 4 minutes to get dressed. It just feels like Effortless Me. The trousers (my most worn piece this season) keep seeling out but they do come back in stock, set a ‘notify me’ alarm if you want them.

Thank you for reading!

My son came in the room, brought me this doudou, and said ‘look mama, you’re matching!’

Your sign to drop a heart ❤️ and restack this post! It helps this publication more than you can even imagine.

See you in the Notes!

Ardas Chandra

1:1 FaceTime styling session

Instagram

Website