Cardigan Chic
Cardigan Chic
The cold snap is over in NYC…yay! But it’s still a little crisp outside – to me anyway – so I’m still wearing sweaters. Besides chunky knit pullovers, my other favorite type of sweater is the cardigan. When you think “cardigan”, the first things that come to mind are private school uniforms, grandma, or Mr. Rogers. And I’d agree with you there. I had to wear a v-neck cardigan as a part of my school uniform for 4 years. Did I also mention it was hunter green? Ew. Luckily, the cardigan has gotten a chic and modern update in the form of flyaway cardigans and sweater coats. Mid-length (a few inches above the knee) flyaway cardigans were all the rage a few seasons ago but maxi lengths and sweater coats are having a moment right now.
I snagged this black and cream beauty up one Saturday morning when I first arrived in NYC back in September. It was a steal at $60 given the quality and the fit. At the time, it was still too warm to wear it as it’s quite heavy so it waited patiently in my closet until fall where I thought of any and every excuse to wear it – especially when I was waiting for my fall and winter clothes that were in storage to arrive from California. I usually keep it simple and wear it with jeans and a basic tee or over a midi LBD.
I really wanted the cardigan to be the focal point in this outfit so I decided to wear a basic black turtleneck (this one in particular is a bodysuit) and black skinny jeans. I have paired this sweater with the white tee that I wore in my Mixing Prints blog post and my blue ripped DSTLD jeans and it looked great too. All of those colors are neutrals so they play well together. I also felt that it was worth mentioning just in case you were wondering how to get maximum wearability out of this sweater without wearing all black every single time.
When it came to choosing my shoes for this outfit, it was pretty tough. I’ve worn black pumps and leopard pumps with this look before but I decided to mix things up a bit. I wanted the nude to make more of a presence in this look besides the trim and sleeves on the cardigan so I chose to wear my blush rockstuds. Plus, the studs are just so much fun and add a little spunk to the look. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out at first but once I saw the final full look, I knew I had made the right choice.
I hope that this post inspires you to reconsider the cardigan. It’s definitely not your grandmother’s sweater anymore.
Have a great rest of the week!
xoxo, CCB
Photography: Kristin Tully
Artistic Direction: Karl Tan
Outfit Details: DVF round neck maxi cardigan (old), ASOS turtleneck bodysuit (here), Forever 21 black skinny jeans (here), Valentino “Rockstud” pumps in Blush/Poudre (here), Celine sunglasses (in stores only)
