An analytical approach is presented here for simply supported blade-stiffened rectangular plates wherein important non-classical effects such as transverse shear deformation and rotary inertia are carefully accounted for. The analysis differs from full three-dimensional modelling of both the plate and the stiffener in that a plane stress idealization is used to model the kinematics of transverse bending of the stiffener while simple one-dimensional classical models are employed for lateral bending and torsion. Parametric studies are used to highlight the importance of non-classical effects in plate and stiffener kinematics and to finally lead to certain recommendations for accurate modelling of stiffened plates. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.