Replacing cardigans - with what

[WhoStoleYourHighHorse]

I wear cardigans too often and I want something that will elevate my outfit to something more appropriate for going out/ going to work. Thoughts please and links please, please, please.

I’ve bought three Mango cardigans that I would consider elevated cardigans.

I went through my wardrobe a few years ago and cut back on the number of cardis I had as I found myself wearing them virtually every day to the office and I thought I might become known as the cardi lady!

I still have them but nicer ones. Cropped cashmere mix one with a v-neck works well with wide-leg and bootleg trousers (I have a big chest too) and chunky oversized ones are working well for me at the moment (again, merino and cashmere mixes look smarter to me).

Also, I started wearing merino baselayers under shirts and tops in winter (well, I say winter, it's pretty much every day from November to March/April) to obviate the need for cardis sometimes.

How about changing the layers a bit? A cotton or silk poloneck underneath a dress or shirt will keep you really warm, although the outer layer will need to be a bit looser. And you can always add a gilet or waistcoat. Muji is great for this kind of thing - my pal is a stylist and says that you can't get better quality for the price on the high street. Also Alyson Walsh has some great tips on layering, including cardigans:

I love my cardis so had a browse through the links. How did I not know about sezane. Some lovely cardis and other clothes. I want! Beautifully classic. Does anyone know how they size up?

I've been a cardi devotee my whole life. I've tried blazers instead but I always go back to cardis.

I have a boiled wool cardi/jacket from House of Bruar, sounds hideous but it's comfy like a cardigan but smart like a blazer. Its navy with navy piping on edge of collar and cuffs.

Well, thanks for that. I love cardis but I have now bought a kimono!

What exactly is a shacket? Is it a similar garment to the coatigan I've seen advertised?

I like a nice bright cardigan worn over a knee length dress, opaque tights and boots.

I too love a cardy! I like the collared ones linked to up thread!

Just to add to the blazer, jacket, Shacket, confusion I have just picked up a coatigan from M&S 🤣

Ha Polly, a shacket is a shirt jacket combo, the coatigan I have just picked up actually just looks like a coat! 🤷‍♀️

It's nice though!

A knitted bomber jacket is also a good alternative, I have a boiled wool from Cos!

Going long is good advice!

Loving the boiled wool options.

I am a long time cardigan devotee so keep coming back to this thread. In one place I worked I was nicknamed cardigan. This was in my early twenties, so this an enduring love (pushing 50 now).

I have a lot of cardigans. I think I have some sensory issues so the softness and suppleness of cardigans works for me. I don't like the stiffness of jackets and I don't like feeling trapped inside a jumper. I also like the double layering effect of a top or dress underneath the cardi.

My favourite of all time was an asymmetrical black cardi with a big button which I lost at a party and ever since have been on an everlasting quest to find a similar one. I did get a nice asymmetrical one with a leather detail and buckle from Celtic and Co a while ago but they don't do it anymore and I shrunk mine in the wash.

My thoughts on cardis - don't give them up for blazers/ jackets/ other stiff uncomfortable items harking back to 80s power shoulders and women having to embrace masculine qualities to be taken seriously. Wear your cardi with pride.

There is lovely lady where I work who has risen rapidly through the organisation to a very very senior position and I have noticed she has cast off her lovely cardis in favour of blazers. Unnecessary. She was impressive in her cardis. She does not need a blazer to continue being an incredible woman who is ace at her job.

If you want to feel more dressy, think lipstick or jewellery. Keep the cardi!

Coatigans look smart.

https://www.roman.co.uk/single-breasted-longline-coatigan-15020036

I have this and love it

Mint Velvet do cardigan-equivalents that are lovely (I think). They have (or used to have) knits that are biker jacket shaped, soft bomber jackets on broderie anglais or lace, and smart Breton striped cotton or textured wool boxy cardigans.

https://mintvelvet.com/products/cream-lace-bomber-jacket

soft and comfy but smart

https://mintvelvet.com/products/navy-cotton-blend-knit-jacket

Thank you - I love this. I continue to embrace my cardigans as I move up the career ladder, despite the occasional (and usually ill-fated dalliance with a blazer).

This made me smile. We used to regularly drive past the original House of Bruar on the A9; our nickname was House of Hamster because of their infamous stocking one year of a coat made of hamster skins ...

@WobblyLondoner are you joking or serious?? That sounds horrendous !

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/hamsterfur-coats-on-sale-again-in-scotland-558049.html

Can't read it, but I get the gist! That must have been a lot of hamsters.

"The House of Bruar, near Blair Atholl in Perthshire, withdrew the £1,750 coats made from the fur of more than 100 hamsters in March after a public outcry led by animal-rights campaigners called for a boycott of the shop.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called the garments "coats of death" while other welfare campaigners launched a campaign to get members of the public to bombard the store with letters of complaint."

In the past few years, the British fur trade has revived from a low point of £11m in 1989 to around £500m a year

how depressing. Who are these people?

Oska Ischiko does a range of boiled wool that's a bit more stylish than House of Bruar.

<a class="break-all" href="https://gb.oska.com/en/products/shop/oska-autumn-winter/boiled-wool/?_gl=11g15blj_upMQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvOrv38C3gQMV2MXtCh01LgBJEAAYASAAEgK_D_D_BwEgb.oska.com/en/products/shop/oska-autumn-winter/boiled-wool/?_gl=11g15blj*_up*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvOrv38C3gQMV2MXtCh01LgBJEAAYASAAEgK_D_D_BwE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oska Ischiko boiled wool

This!