The Cardigan

For months, the February issue of Lucky sat in my bathroom. The cardigan on its cover model insinuating itself into my consciousness. It was red and cropped. Thinly knit. Perfect for spring days and cool summer nights.


Of course, the cover cardigan was overpriced, and I have limits.

Okay, maybe I don't have limits, but I do have limited funds. So the cardigan remained on Hayden Panettiere and out of my closet.

Usually that would have been the end of the story. Imaginary clothes for my fabulous wardrobe flit away, and I move on to lust something new and ridiculous. But the image of the cardigan stuck. Being from Boston and loving sweaters, hats and corduroys, my wardrobe has always been lacking in the spring/summer department. I have blazers and cute jackets but nothing light enough to wear as the days got longer.

One weekend a couple of months ago, I found myself wandering around a SoHo H&M with my visiting mother. And then there it was. The Cardigan. Not The Cardigan. But The Cardigan. In yellow. That scared me away from it at first. Yellow is not a color I own. Blues and grays and blacks and pink are my staples. But yellows and oranges are a no. I picked it up anyway and, after some haggling, convinced my mother that I had to have it.

If I were going to take the big leap into non-bulky and purely ornamental outerwear, I might as well get over my color anxiety as well.

And now The Cardigan rarely leaves me, much to the chagrin of my best friend. But it also receives the second most compliments out of anything I own.

First place is reserved for The Dress. But we'll return to that later.

(And yes, that is The Cardigan in my profile picture. Don't I look all cute and smiley in it? Though the smiley probably has more to do with the birthday vodka tonic I had right before that picture was taken.)


Cover via