August is the month when a wardrobe runs out of ideas. Everything that was new in June has already been worn to death, and buying something new right before autumn makes no sense. Which is exactly why stylists have gone back this season to the oldest pattern there is - stripes.

Striped trousers work for a simple reason: the pattern does the work for you. They demand no jewellery, no expensive top half, no thinking. With a white shirt they are office wear, with trainers they are beach wear, with sandals they are evening wear. One item, three completely different situations.

The combinations circulating this summer are predictable, but they work. With a straw hat they take on a Mediterranean note. With a vest in a strong colour they suddenly sound Portuguese and more serious than they cost. With a romantic blouse with embroidered detail and puffed sleeves they go out to dinner. With patterned trainers they become almost pyjama aesthetics, which sounds like an insult until you see how comfortable it is. And with a classic white shirt they are the thing you can wear three times a month and nobody notices.

Two things are worth knowing before buying. The first is that a diagonal stripe visually lengthens the figure more strongly than a vertical one, a trick older than all Instagram profiles put together. The second is the scarf at the waist - this season it takes the belt's place and, besides being more comfortable, it lets you mix two patterns without it looking like a mistake.

There is a sequinned version too, for those who want stripes but do not want to look restrained. The way to keep it from ending up as a costume is simple: wear them with a white t-shirt or a men's-cut shirt, during the day, and never treat them as a formal piece.

What is worth saying without wrapping it up is that not one of these combinations requires a new purchase. Striped trousers are in almost every wardrobe from the last three summers, because the pattern returns in cycles and the industry knows that better than we do. This season, the difference between „worn-out“ and „on-trend“ is literally one scarf tied at the waist.