Parallel lines

This week a Bella Freud sweater has sent That's Not My Age into a state of sartorial reverie. Oh yes, I love a good stripe. Just see how those parallel lines perk up any outfit and add a smidgen of glamour:



Maybe it's a nautical thing, after all, I did grow up by the seaside...





Though that's not me in the striped bathing suit, and that's not my donkey.



I've always felt an affiliation for Chanel's poor boy chic, which strikes a chord with my working class sensibilities.



And talking of French style, I wouldn't mind looking like Jean Seberg in A Bout de Souffle, as for Jean-Paul Belmondo, well I wouldn't mind....



While we're on the subject of icons, the fabulously cool David Hockney is always worth a mention.



And Bridget Riley has been working wonders with horizontal lines for well over 40 years.



Then it's back to Parisienne chic and Monsieur Jean-Paul Gaultier who knows a thing or two about a man in matelot.



So, in my dreams I'll have the Bella Freud sweater, the Bridget Riley painting and this gorgeous ACNE maxi dress, just not with those shoes. No thank you.



Photos

Bella Freud stripey dog knit from Matches
Gene Tierney from Fashion in Film
Striped bathing suit: George Hoyningen-Huene
Blackpool beach: Norman Parkinson
David Hockney pic courtesy of Mr Peacock Style
Acne dress from Net-a-Porter