This Sweater Might Be The Best Sweater I’ve Ever Owned
by Audie Metcalf
I will admit something shocking to you now:
I’ve never owned a crew neck sweater. Or shirt. Or anything.
Why?
Crew necks are not friends with the big-breasted gal. That high neck typically creates a huge wall of uniboob that flatters no one, so I’ve usually opted for v-necks, boat necks, off the shoulder.
But I was in Aritzia the other day with my sister-in-law, (who is incidentally my favorite shopping partner—is it possible to have a soul mate for shopping? Do you know what I mean? You just meld and blend and balance each other out and are direct when necessary but fun and complimentary, and there’s never a weird envy vibe, but there’s also not some bullshit “you look great in everything” tone, and I’m sure you are thinking of your shopping soul mate now, and it’s just so nice that we all have one) and I sort of randomly placed my hand on a table of sweaters and I audibly gasped from the softness.
But then I saw it was a crew neck and kept on walking.
As I tried on jean after jean in the dressing room (all horrible, why I even attempt to buy any jeans other than THESE is a mystery) my mind kept wandering back to this deliciously soft sweater. Perhaps they made another style in that same material?
I was convinced (coerced) to try it on by my SSM (shopping soul mate) and friends? My life is changed. Possibly, complete.
Behold.
So first, I’m going to attempt to describe the feeling of this material. And I should begin by saying that if anything scratchy even grazes my skin, I will explode. Mohair? You’re joking. Alpaca? You must be out of your mind. Angora? Go home. Merino? HAHAHAHAHAHA. When I tell you I have a zero percent capacity for itchy material, I am still not stating my hatred vehemently enough. And yet, many “elevated” sweaters are made with such wools, which confuses me deeply since I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys this feeling. So when I come upon anything that feels high-end but not scratchy, I usually start openly weeping.
As I did on this day.
I think we need to see the sweater again in another color, don’t you?
So what does it feel like? Well. It feels like how you expect all cashmere to feel except even most cashmere can be itchy.
It is utterly, delectably soft, almost wet feeling, and sort of…spongy. A strange word I know, but it’s apt. And because the sweater is so thin, you can wear it like a shirt without being drenched in sweat even if you’re indoors in excessive heating. It’s made mostly of nylon and viscose, but it does have some cashmere and a hint of elastane, which I suspect is what gives it its stretchy quality.
But now is the moment where we talk about the arms. Oh, the arms. Let’s look at the product shots together, though I will tell you that I don’t even think their styling does this thing justice:
The arm has the slightest balloon shape, so if you have a thicker arm like me, it will feel perfectly loose but not at all sloppy. I love an oversized sweater especially the winter when we’re all slightly rounder, but in order for typical sweaters arms to be loose on me I have to get 2 sizes up, rendering the rest of the fit too oversized and stupid. But with this sweater you can buy your normal size (I’m in a medium for reference) and the arms will be GLORIOUSLY loose.
It’s also long enough to wear untucked if you like this look:
But it’s not so huge/thick/long that you can’t easily tuck it into pants or jeans. Fine, yes, I also got it in black which means I bought it in three colors don’t judge me. This was a big find for me.
Yes, you can wear black on black even if they don’t match, and I think it looks great. Oh, and those are the jeans I referenced above. Heaven. A dream. A fit like no other.
So after all that, why didn’t I ever buy a crew neck until now? I’m not sure. I think they’ve always added too much bulk. But this one feels so perfect and maybe sliiiiiiightly wider than most round necks if you scroll back up to the charcoal version I’m wearing above?
Listen, I don’t know. I do know that I’m now on the hunt for a white t-shirt to layer under this sweater so I can realize this particular Pinteresty look that I’ve never been able to recreate. Until now.
Will I be buying this perfect, ballon sleeve, soft as a lambs ear, spongy sweater in even more colors? Oh yes. It comes in 9.
Oh god, what if I buy them all?
Price: $118
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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