Breton tops- ubiquitous?

[PollyPerky]

Why? This year every single shop has them- talking mid market- Boden, Joules, White Stuff, even Jigsaw.

I mean they're ok and I have a few but how long before we're ditching them and they will be passe?

[Runningupthathill82]

Haha, sorry CremeEgg!

[CremeEggThief]

Check with the body warmer, although mine is Fatface!

[whattheseithakasmean]

I love a nice Breton. I remember them being v popular in the 80s. And in the 90s come to that. In fact, I think Bretons have always been popular - because they are comfy & look good.

[Runningupthathill82]

What Squoosh said. They're so ubiquitous now that it's like a uniform - skinny jeans, Breton, ballet flats/Converse.

Worst case scenario is when the above is teamed with a Joules/White Stuff/North Face body warmer - and there's four or five women together, all looking near-identical. Marcel Marceau appreciation society going boating?

[Didiusfalco]

What actually defines a breton top? is it just a top that is stripey or does it have to be a particular shape?

[weirdsister]

I had one in the 80's. Madonna wore one in the papa don't preach video ( also 80's).

[Ohtobeskiing]

I am a breton stripey top fan. I bought a lovely green striped one in France in about 1997 and wore it for years, it was a heavy weight fabric and washed and wore brilliantly - nothing quite compares but I keep on the eternal search....

[CremeEggThief]

I love stripy tops (I have navy/white; navy/grey; purple/white and burgundy/grey) with skinny jeans/jeggings, a long cardigan and my Converse. I agree it is a bit of a uniform though!

[daimbardiva]

See here for a start!

www.rmg.co.uk/discover/behind-the-scenes/blog/stripes-and-sea-history-breton-top

[thecatfromjapan]

Lol @ marcel Marceau appreciation-group.

[squoosh]

I've ditched all stripes from my wardrobe for the foreseeable future. You see a group of female friends together and they look like a gathering of a Marcel Marceau appreciation group.

[ZaraW]

Mine are the traditional ones from Saint James in navy and white heavy cotton and red and white in a lighter cotton for summer, couldn't care less if they are in fashion or not they are a classic style the high street versions not so much.

[thecatfromjapan]

Ballet-style flat shoes. That was another style that was a bit of a hard-to-source style thing.

It's hard to imagine shoe shops without them now. And I did think their becoming mass-fashion would kill them off. However, they have proved amazingly resilient.

Perhaps it will be the same with the Breton?

[thecatfromjapan]

No. They weren't ubiquitous the way they are now. But I don't think you could get through a summer without a Vogue article advising a 'nautical' Breton to add to your capsule wardrobe. Finding one was a lot harder.

The mass-fashion thing happening to the Breton is what has happened.

A bit like the 'le Pliage' bag, on a larger scale.

I'm happy about it, though. As I said, I intend to fill my barns while the harvest is good. I guess there may be a year or two of waiting while the memory of the flood fades ...

[emsyj]

I have white leather Supergas which I wear with wine slim cut jeans and a breton. Love my Supergas as an alternative to ballet flats in the summer.

[AnnPerkins]

Whoops, posted too soon. The H&M link didn't work but I can guess what it was. Sounds like a look I would like. Sadly there's no H&M in this town.

I don't remember a full-on Breton fad like this before. I remember some people wearing stripey tops with baggyish jeans and those lace-up blue & white deck shoes that you can't seem to get any more. But not an actual all-the-rage thing.

[AnnPerkins]

Thank you WellErrr. The H&M link went to

[PollyPerky]

Sorry to disagree but Bretons were not in fashion - as they are now- in the 80s. My DCs were toddlers in the 80s and I was surrounded by yummy mummies. Not one has a Breton top. yes you could get a navy and white long sleeved T shirt, but they weren't 'in'.
And ok, actresses who wafted around Cannes and Nice perhaps wore them but not Mrs Joe Public in the 60s- I was there!

[WellErrr]

I really want some wine skinny jeans too. But what shoes does one wear with them? Boring ballet shoes again?

I wear boat shoes, ballet flats or dark ran ankle boots with mine. I've also got some very dark Breton striped canvas flats that look good with a dark blue top.

H and m had some good wine coloured treggings, cheap but they're really nice - m2.hm.com/m/en_gb/productpage.0232391030.html they've sold out now but that's an idea of it. Ooh and look what the model's wearing on top!

[thecatfromjapan]

Just as an aside - the 'even Jigsaw [are doing Bretons]' in the OP: I seem to remember that jigsaw used to bring out one Breton-type top each summer, usually in two colour ways, only on style (crew neck or boat neck; boxy or shaped) and quite small numbers. You had to be quite quick to get them and it might well be Breton-ish, rather than

I think I quite like the current ubiquity.

[Larastheme]

Bretons were never out of style, I was a teen in the 90s and remember them being popular , even with the grunge crowd, kurt cobain used to wear one

I love them and wear them regularly, there is more to Breton than the nautical theme,if dressed with classic trench coat like a burberry one, or worn with utility jacket or with flannel shirt and leather skirt or leather trousers, even with a tweed jacket like Chanel , it can transform an outfit.

My favourite are A.P.C, pricy but worth it, the cut and the fabric are the best,

[thecatfromjapan]

There could be a book: 'The Breton: A century in style.'

Actually, I think it'll just go quiet after the high-water mark, fewer retailers will sell it, in fewer varieties.

Can't imagine it will wholly disappear. I remember how hard it was to get the ' perfect Breton' (for a BB look) when I was in my 20s. I really like stripes, so I'm stocking up in these years of plenty so that I have stores of stripes for the fallow years to come.

[thecatfromjapan]

It would be quite ironic if the Joules neon stripe, and the ubiquity, managed to kill a style staple that Chanel set her imprimatur on.

We'd be able to tell our children that we witnessed its end.

[AstrantiaMallow]

OP
Coco Chanel wore one in the 1910s and then again as PP said Audrey Hepburn. French Nouvelle Vague actresses also wore them in the 1960s. All really stylishly. Google Bardot, Le Mépris.

Retailers have picked on that trend and cheapened it, that's all. Like most things in fashion.

Chosen with care and worn right they (or their reinterpretation, provided it's not neon pink maybe) can look stylish.

[JemimaMuddledUp]

I love Bretons. Yes they are everywhere, but I don't think it is a new thing, I still have a couple of Boden ones that I bought when DS1 was a baby - he is almost 14.