Every summer there are a few things that don’t change; people head for the beach and we all start wearing stripes. Usually these stripes fall firmly into the annual nautical trend and fashionistas become a sea of Breton stripes, but this year Breton is taking a back seat as stripes go bold.

On the spring/summer catwalks the likes of Marc by Marc Jacobs and Prada displayed bright bold stripes on everything from dresses to tops, accompanied with neutral, simple accessories. Stripes were not a single-colour affair either, with combinations of yellows, oranges, blues and reds proving popular.

If you fear adopting this look may have you looking more ‘refresher’ than refreshing, worry not; over at Sonia Rykiel coloured stripes were also the order of the day, but in a more muted fashion. Rykiel played it safe with an array of summer pastels making a play for the fashion foreground.

If you fancy rocking the summer stripe (without looking like a stick of rock) pick up maxi dresses, midi skirts and jersey tops with medium to thick stripes. If designer prices are out of your price range, head to http://www.bankfashion.co.uk/.