Liz Jones: Stripes are everywhere this Spring, but too much and you'll look like Beryl the Peril

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Line-up: Prada did stripes in its spring/summer 2001 showThere are lots of key trends for spring: Seventies florals and fringing, and even eye-popping fluorescent colours. Pleats of every kind, from box to accordion to sunray, will be everywhere, as will the sort of boyish, androgynous, slouchy dressing beloved of singer Patti Smith and me. Great big blousy floral prints, as seen so beautifully on the London catwalk at Erdem, will cheer up summer, while last years sheer and floaty maxi will still look fresh come the warm weather. But there is one spring/summer trend that looks poised to surpass them all: stripes. Unless you are petite, or tall and thin, stripes can add pounds. It is a very obvious print, too: you either love it or hate it. I am not a print person. Looking through my wardrobe, there is not one print to be seen, just black, cream, ecru and, my new favourite colour, truffle. I dont think Ive worn a stripe since I was six years old. But this is one print that will be hard to avoid this summer. My favourite designer, Miuccia Prada, showed stripes in orange, lime, pink and canary for spring, in wildly clashing combinations and varying widths. Stripes featured heavily at Celine under Phoebe Philo: her stripes were blockier, and teamed with white, a really fresh, new look that is bound to be copied. Marc Jacobs and Moschino showed stripes worn as full skirts, teamed with floral prints: if you are brave, wearing stripes with another print can look wonderful.How would the print phobic tentatively begin to wear stripes? A simple navy and white Breton sweater has been fashionable since Coco Chanel wore one in the Twenties, and there are lots on the High Street this spring. It looks fabulous under a navy blazer: I love Zaras wool version (70), which is long over the bottom this summers forgiving new shape. A gently pleated skirt with a horizontal stripe is pret! ty, but Id avoid this look unless you have a tiny waist. A crisp navy and white stripe is one way of nodding towards the nautical trend this spring, rather than going the whole hog with anchors and deckshoes (as a child, I once sewed a fabric anchor on to my navy loons, which shows you how long all things sailor have been in and out of fashion). I really love stripes used in evening wear, as in a gorgeous horizontally striped skirt by Jil Sander, although youd need to be 6ft to carry it off.

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How not to wear stripes? Though there are many designer stripes around this spring I love Moschinos sunray pleated red and white striped skirt I would stick to the High Street because its a trend that will not survive beyond this summer. Whatever you do, dont think that a striped rugby shirt will pass muster. It wont. This is a garment that needs to be banned. And avoid green and white stripes, a combination that reeks of oral hygiene. My main gripe with the stripe, though, is that it is just not sexy. It can be smart (there are some lovely versions at Laura Ashley), and will make sure you stand out from the crowd, but a quick vox pop among my male friends is that stripes are too busy, too fashion for their liking and, as one man put it, too Beryl the Peril. But as Beryl was always one of my role models while growing up, known for her feisty tomboyishness and can-do attitude, that comparison has just made me like stripes a whole lot more.

MY SIX TOP STRIPEY HIGH STREET BUYS

From left:! This or ange drop waist dress by Dorothy Perkins, 30, is very flattering, Very has a pale pink striped dress in a soft knit, 35, very.co.uk and striped jersey dress, 40, asos.com

From left: I really like this grey and black Warehouse maxi, 65, I love this graphic Diane von Furstenberg
wrap dress, 313, and striped boat-neck sweater by Jaeger, was 99, now 49 in the sale