What Is a Cardigan and How to Style It?

The morning is four degrees too cold for a shirt alone and six too warm for a coat. A cardigan is an open front sweater with no hood, and that gap is exactly where it performs best. You take it off indoors and put it back on at the door.

What is a cardigan and how does it differ from a sweater?

A cardigan is a sweater with an open front that undoes along its whole length, and that is the only feature separating it from a pull on style. The name comes from James Brudenell, seventh Earl of Cardigan, a British commander from the Crimean War who wore a knitted jacket under his uniform. In the second half of the nineteenth century the cut left the army and was taken up by civilian wardrobes.

The technical difference has practical consequences. A closed sweater has to go over the head, so its neckline must be wide enough to pass the shoulders, and that limits what can happen at the neck. An opening at the front removes that limit: a cardigan can have a high collar, a deep V or a plain line at the throat, because nothing has to stretch when you put it on. That is why open styles across sweaters offer more variety at the neckline than pull on ones.

What types of cardigan are there?

Cardigans divide first by length, because length decides where the line of a look ends and how the proportions of a silhouette change. Cut and stitch thickness are secondary to the point on the body where the hem falls.

The two extreme variants need the most thought. A cropped cardigan lifts the waistline visually and lengthens the leg, but it needs a high waisted bottom, otherwise it exposes the gap between two layers. A waterfall leads the eye the other way: the draped fronts create a vertical line, so it does not take a wide bottom and looks best over a narrow leg.

Material decides how long a cardigan keeps its shape:

• Merino wool. Springy and fine, it returns to shape once taken off and works as a layer under a coat.
• Cashmere. The warmest at the smallest thickness, but it pills where it rubs after a dozen or so wearings.
• Mohair. A long pile gives volume and scattered light, though it needs hand washing and flat drying.
• Cotton and viscose. Cooler to the touch and good for the turn of the seasons, but they bag at the elbows sooner.

How do you choose a cardigan length for your figure?

The length of a cardigan decides the proportions, because the lower edge of the knit creates the strongest horizontal line in a whole look. Choose so that line does not fall at the widest point of your silhouette.

Below 165 centimetres, a hip length cardigan keeps the leg in visible proportion, while a knee length model shortens it optically by a good ten centimetres. With a defined waist, a cropped cut with a belt gives the most, or a model left open so the fronts run down the sides and leave the middle exposed. With broader shoulders avoid puff sleeves and padding, because a cardigan already adds volume in the upper half. A dense knit shows the structure of its stitches in side light, and in movement a heavier knit falls vertically instead of swinging, which slims the line by itself.

How do you wear a cardigan day to day?

A cardigan works best day to day as a middle layer, between a thin top and a jacket, rather than as the only thing on the outside. Underneath it needs something smooth: a cotton top, a silk camisole or a fine shirt.

Three arrangements work whatever the season. Open over a piece from dresses, it shortens the exposure of the arms without closing the whole silhouette. With straight trousers and a top tucked into the waistband, the waistline stays visible, so a shorter model reads lighter than a long one. Buttoned to the neck, a cardigan replaces the top entirely and then needs nothing underneath beyond a fine piece from t-shirts and tops.

One detail decides whether a look reads as considered. The sleeve of a cardigan should finish at the wrist or be rolled two to three centimetres above it, never cover half the hand. A sleeve that is too long shortens the arm and makes the whole layer read as borrowed from a larger size, even when the rest of the cut is right. The same applies to a ribbed cuff, which stops holding the wrist once it has stretched.

Can a cardigan replace a blazer at the office?

A cardigan replaces a blazer anywhere the dress code stops at smart casual, and it loses only where a look calls for structure at the shoulder. A blazer has padding and a lining that hold the shoulder line whatever your posture. Knit follows the body, so it shows the silhouette as it is.

For the office choose a cardigan with a smooth stitch, in one colour, fastened at least halfway. Paired with a piece from shirts and pressed trousers it reads as a complete look rather than an added layer. If the meeting has the weight that would make you reach for something from blazers, stay with those: no stitch reproduces what a shoulder pad does.

Which styles treat the cardigan as a fixture?

A cardigan appears in four aesthetics that otherwise have little in common, and each time it plays a different role. That is a useful hint when buying: one cut will not serve all four.

In preppy the cardigan is a layer over a collared shirt, usually cropped, smooth, in navy or bottle green, often with a contrast trim at the neck. In business casual it stands in for a blazer, so it needs a dense stitch and a plain cut with no decoration. In boho it works the other way round: the longer, looser and more textured the better, and an openwork stitch is an advantage rather than a fault. In minimalism only one thing counts, the absence of detail, so the models chosen have no contrast buttons and sit close in colour to the rest of a look.

If you are buying one cardigan for several years, choose from the second group. A smooth stitch and a plain cut move into preppy and into minimalism without changing character, while an openwork model stays in boho and cannot be carried into an office.

What not to pair with a cardigan

A cardigan forgives almost everything except one thing: repeating the same volume in a second layer.

• Do not pair an oversized cardigan with wide trousers, because two loose layers blur the waistline and shorten the whole silhouette.
• Avoid wearing a heavy knit under a fitted coat, because the stitch compacts in the sleeves and stays flattened there permanently after a few weeks.
• Never button a cardigan all the way over a bottom with a defined waist, because two horizontal lines close together divide the silhouette into three parts.
• Do not combine a cable stitch with a second pronounced texture in the same look, because the two compete and neither gets noticed.

How do you wash and store a cardigan?

A cardigan needs washing less often than a shirt, because knit does not lie against the skin across its whole surface. Once every six to eight wearings is enough, provided you air it overnight in between.

Wash wool and cashmere by hand in water up to 30 degrees, or on a wool programme with the spin switched off. Always dry flat on a dry towel: a cardigan hung on a hanger stretches across the shoulders by several centimetres under the weight of the water. Fold it on a shelf, never on a hanger, because even dry the weight of the knit forms two distinctive points at the shoulders over time. The same rule applies to pieces from hoodies in heavier weights.

Frequently asked questions

What do you do when a cardigan bags at the elbows?

Dampen the stretched area with lukewarm water, press it back into a flat shape with your hand and leave it to dry flat. The method works with wool and cashmere, while with cotton and acrylic the deformation usually stays, because those fibres have no spring.

How does a cardigan differ from a wrap?

A wrap has no fastening and usually no finished collar either, so it only covers. A cardigan can be fastened and therefore replaces a top rather than simply going over it.

Which cardigan suits a formal occasion?

Choose a smooth stitch in one dark colour, hip length, with small buttons. Heavy cables and openwork read as everyday however well the rest of the look is chosen.

Can a cardigan be worn in summer?

It can, provided it is cotton, linen or viscose with a loose, breathable stitch. In summer it mostly earns its place in the evening and in air conditioned rooms, where the difference in temperature runs to several degrees.

Back to that morning four degrees too cold. A cardigan solves it because you can take it off halfway through the day without being left in something incomplete. If you are looking for one knit for the whole turn of the season, start with a smooth hip length model in a colour you already have in your trousers.