Stripped is the past of strip — to remove a covering: "the walls were stripped." Striped means marked with stripes: "a striped shirt." The doubled p is what keeps the vowel short. It is the same rule as hoping and hopping, and the same trap: both spellings are real, so nothing flags a swap.
The core difference
- stripped — from strip, to remove: stripped paint, stripped of his title. Short i.
- striped — from stripe, a band of colour: a striped tie. Long i.
The rule behind the doubled letter
English doubles a final consonant before a suffix when the preceding vowel is short, and leaves it single when the vowel is long. Strip has a short i, so the p doubles. Stripe has a long i marked by silent e, which is dropped, leaving one p.
Read them aloud and the spelling explains itself: stripped rhymes with ripped; striped rhymes with wiped.
Why it slips through
Both are valid words and both are common, so a swap produces a sentence that is grammatical and wrong. "A stripped shirt" describes a shirt with something taken off it, which is rarely what a catalogue means.
Frequently asked questions
Which spelling means having stripes?
Striped, with one p. Two p's gives stripped, meaning something was removed.
Why does stripped have two p's?
Because strip has a short vowel, and English doubles the final consonant before a suffix to keep a short vowel short.
How do I remember it?
Say them aloud. Stripped rhymes with ripped; striped rhymes with wiped. The extra p shortens the vowel.