fashion uniform

A few days ago I was at TJ Maxx, trolling the racks like I do, oh, once a week. I made a few selections and was headed into the dressing room and as I passed by the gatekeeper employee she said, "You must love stripes."   I looked down at what I had, three very different but all very striped tops (see below). Oh. 

I hadn't even realized I'd only chosen striped things. When I got into the dressing room and looked in the mirror, here's what I saw...

...not only was I already wearing a striped shirt, I was also wearing STRIPED SHOES. Gulp.


So when I got home I went to my closet and got to counting... and stopped when I reached 30. That was just shirts and cardigans. No sweaters, no dresses... Basically, I have a stripe problem. I guess maybe stripes are my uniform?

What about you?  My friend Katie and I recently discussed her favored dress shape, tank up top with an empire waist and full-skirted bottom.  Do you have a go-to color or pattern or cut that you always wear?

(I ended up buying the tank on the right but not the other two. I felt like I already had something like the white shirt - and rightly so - and the flounce on the tank top wasn't flattering to my post-baby torso)

PS- Further confession: I bought this
last week in, you guessed it, the black & white stripes. Send help.