{"id":21251,"title":"In pursuit of the perfect Breton tee","description":"To find the best things in life, it's often worth going back to the start. For this ex-fashion editor, that means the Breton stripes she wore as a kid... and now she's found her favourite of all time.","content":"

To find the best things in life, it\u2019s often worth going back to the start. Take my most worn wardrobe staple, the Breton tee, for example. I\u2019ve always loved a Breton tee. Maybe it\u2019s because as a kid all my family holidays were in its birthplace, Brittany in northern France, or perhaps it\u2019s because some of the earliest photographic evidence of my existence shows not just me, but both of my parents wearing them. Breton stripes were imprinted on my brain from birth like a mother goose\u2019s face to a gosling. They worked for me, right from the start of\u2026 well, me.<\/p>

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- Hannah Rochell wearing our <\/em>Striped Boxy T-shirt<\/em><\/a> <\/u><\/em><\/a>in navy stripes<\/em><\/p>

Being a sucker for stripes continued when I started working as a fashion assistant at glossy magazines in London and every editor I worked with was obsessed with them, proclaiming them to be \u2018virtually a neutral\u2019 and clashing them with everything from Liberty florals to garish leopard print. When I became an editor myself, I wore them at Paris, Milan and London fashion week.<\/p>

Chic enough for the front row, yet casually perfect for the pub, too.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Loved by everyone from Coco Chanel to Kurt Cobain, their enduring style means that finding the absolute ideal Breton tee is not a pursuit I\u2019m alone in. Sure, we\u2019ve known from the start that the stripes work, but finding them on the perfect t-shirt hasn\u2019t always been plain sailing. That said, as I sit here typing, I am happy to tell you that I am wearing it.<\/p>

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- our organic cotton answer to the <\/em>classic Breton top<\/u><\/em><\/a><\/p>

Previous attempts at finding the perfect Breton tee have involved me buying authentic men\u2019s ones in French supermarkets (the wrong shape), splashing out on expensive ones (too heavy) and in a past, less responsible life, scrimping on fast-fashion ones (too flimsy, and now full of holes). All of these iterations are still in my wardrobe, but unlike my new, perfect discovery, they are now relegated to pyjamas, painting or popping out with the dog.<\/p>

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- Hannah wears a size 12 boxy tee<\/em><\/p>

My new, perfect Breton tee, which I have worn roughly twice a week since I purchased it, is the Rapanui Striped Boxy T-shirt.<\/u><\/a> I\u2019m really into it for the following reasons (and bear with me, there is some nerdy stripy tee stuff incoming):<\/p>