Hope Macauley Cardigan

[amibeingaknob]

Ive been cooing over these cardigans for years, and I just saw it on Traitors and as Ive done quite well with work recently Im seriously considering buying one as a well done to myself. Am I mad? I want the colourful one, but its over £400!!!! Ive never spent that on anything before. I do know I would wear it to death, and it would make me crazy happy. I have a ratty old brown cardigan that I wear constantly. So should I go for it, or is that totally bonkers? Anyone got one? The fact you cant wash them might be an issue cos I know I would wear it constantly and Im a glumsy git.

Thoughts?

Oh and here is the beauty. I mean its a work of art and so cheery. The Colourful Colossal Knit Cardigan | Hope Macaulay

I also love the browner colours which would go with more Bruna Colossal Knit Cardigan | Hope Macaulay

I also wouldn't know what size to get. Im a size 10/12 tall with big boobs. I really want that oversize look so Im guessing M/L. Id want it a bigger fit than on the model. They are made to order so don't want to fuck it up.

I mean absolutely no disrespect to the OP with this and she has my absolute sympathy but she was warned by multiple posters what was likely to happen, including one who cited a warning in the FAQs on the Hope Macauley website, and she decided to go ahead with the purchase. I imagine lots and lots of other people do the same.

I don’t think it looks that bad either. I’d trim the rolled or matted bits off. Wool do be like that.

I also think they’re promoted as “wearable art” and I’ve only seen instagrammers posing in them so suspect they didn’t pay for them and take it off after the photo so aren’t going to be writing reviews.

I do get why you’re gutted though, I would be too if I’d spent so much. I bought a nice chunky cardi from Hush which has pilled but I’ve snipped off the bobbles with nail scissors. It’s ok and mine was £65 so I’m less invested.

I think you are right, I have been very very foolish. My thought process was that the trust pilot reviews were great, the knitters were all saying it woudl be a disaster, but I thought maybe they just didn't get it as it wasn't a traditional method, and it can't be that bad otherwise there would be loads of stinking reviews from customers. I also thought, at most, a bit of pilling and bobbling would matter to me. I could just snip those bits off - as said above. But its the halo effect which you can see on the pics if you zoom in - its everywhere on the cardigan, and it moults terribly. It really does look bloody awful.

I do own though that I have been foolish and was heavily warned here, and a lesson has well and truly been learned.

I think a lot of these quirky companies build up an almost cult like following where sensible discussion goes out the window. Lucy and Yak have had a marketing nightmare recently as suddenly a lot of their big fans started speaking out against them. There are many others. It is a hard lesson to learn OP. And very unfair of them to sell something so expensive and take no responsibility.

I don’t think you have been foolish, easy to feel that way now but you paid a huge amount of money for something and it shouldn’t have done this. Such a shame as you were excited about this :(

You are definitely not foolish. Not at all. I know that a few posters here warned you, but it is perfectly reasonable to expect a garment costing so much money to last more than a handful of wears. I really hope you get some recompense. Such a beautiful cardigan, but not fit for purpose.

Don’t be too hard on yourself OP @amibeingaknob

It’s definitely not fit for purpose and even if you’d only paid £20 from Shein, I’d be complaining. I do hope you get your money back 🤞

I would blame the company. I think what they’ve done is unethical, because they should be staying in clear terms that the garments are not designed to be worn. You sell a cardigan and unless you make it clear that it’s a show piece, anyone who buys it may expect to wear it- even if they say “wearable art” they’re still saying it can be worn.

Does a giant synthetic wool / yarn exist that could be used to make them durable and wearable?

You are not foolish at all. The cardigans - when new - look fabulous. You have no experience with knitting or yarn and you shouldn't need to have that knowledge to shop effectively.

You can get jumbo tube yarn, which is a tube of velour / velvet filled with stuffing. It would be unwearably heavy as a garment, however.

Op I've been following this (excuse the pun) thread and initially was so excited for you! I was actually thinking of buying one myself.
Anyway I'm appalled by what has happened to an extremely expensive garment. I wear a lot of wool and cashmere and this shouldn't happen to quality clothes. This isn't fit for purpose.
Have you thought about contacting You and Yours on Radio 4? It's a consumer rights programme. I think it would be right up their street.

I’ve been musing on this a bit. And it’s led me down a path of thinking about really expensive but delicate clothes. I’ve got a (second hand) v premium silk dress. It only comes out on special occasions and is worn for a few hours at a time. I wouldn’t expect it to stand up to the rigors of daily wear. Becuse of the fabric. Yet at some point someone spent £££ on it. My feeling is these cardies are similar. Intended for the photo op / occasion rather than as an everyday pop it on and go about your daily business type of thing.

and IF you have the knowledge of the fabric you would build that into your decision making when buying and wearing it. Perhaps that’s where the manufacturer has gone wrong, by not making that clear (haven’t looked at their site myself so can’t say whether they hav)

There is some, possibly a lot of truth in what you say but there's nothing on HM website to indicate that is the case. The care instructions are no different to other high end knitwear like & Daughter and Palava who fully expect their knitwear will be worn regularly and forever.

I don't watch the Traitors but I assume it was worn as a normal cardigan?

Tom Daley has featured it on his Wool show-as a normal cardigan worn with jeans, t-shirt and trainers. So really nothing to suggest these are occasional wear pieces.

And even if they are occasional wear, I have one pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes. They're obviously not every day shoes. Over the 10 or more years I've had them I suppose I might have worn them in total as much as OP has worn her cardigan but they still look as good as new.

Yeh I have worn it for a couple of hours each time - on three seperate ocassions. On the last occassion it just looked to shitty and I was embarrassed.

Anyway, update. Bank has said they asked the company to refund me, but they haven't heard back from them and they will review it themselves and get back to me in 3 days. Does that mean Im going to get refund because the bank deemed it correct to refund me because they asked them to?

I asked chatGPT and they said that because the merchant has ignored it for 3 days and didnt respond, I am more likely to get my refund. I will be thrilled if that is the case. Cant believe Hope Macauley didn't even bother challenging it?

I’m glad for you, but I think Hope Macauley is the knob in this scenario rather than you!

Update - chargeback dispute still in progress.

Hopes customer service just came back with this.

'Dear xx
Thank you for your messages and for sharing your photos.
I would like to clarify that the pilling and slight fibre shedding you’re seeing are natural characteristics of this type of knitwear, particularly during the first few wears. This is not a fault or defect in the garment. Our care guidance, included with each purchase, recommends gentle maintenance such as a knitwear comb to refresh the fabric if needed.
As the garment is performing as expected for this style and construction, we are unable to offer a refund or replacement. I appreciate this may not be the outcome you were hoping for, but we hope this explanation provides clarity.
Thank you for your understanding.'

slight shedding my fat arse!!

I thought "slight shedding my fat arse" was part of their reply for a second and I was momentarily quite impressed with them.

I hope you get more luck with your chargeback, it does look like they are not going to budge. And not unexpectedly so or they would be refunding everyone endlessly.

I'm going to visit our local wool shop to actually check out the roving wool.

It sounds like felt-y cotton wool.

You probably won't find it in a standard yarn shop unless they sell spinning supplies. People don't generally knit with roving.

I wonder how much the hand knitters are paid to produce the items?

The fibres must shed all over their houses too!

Any more response from them @amibeingaknob ?

I am so cynical at this point that I do think most posts like this are 80% bots now, driving up views for the brands. Even the regular posts could be easily imitated to drive traffic and chat.

Time for some offline rest I think