At 62, the Cosy Cardigan I Wear Out
At 62, the cosy cardigan I am actually happy to be seen out in
Six things the Vienna gets right that everyday cardigans get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a cardigan in my life. What I have done is spend years pulling on the same bobbly old cardigans when it turns cold, the sort I only wear about the house because I would not want to be caught out in them. So this is not a review. It is a woman who finally found a warm cardigan she is proud to wear out, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Vienna, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw it on a woman at the farmers' market on a cold morning, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A cardigan. I can hear you, because I said the same to my friend Sue. A cardigan means shapeless and dowdy, I thought, a nana in a rocking chair. Then I saw the neat little collar and the check and how smart it looked on her, and I changed my mind. Read on.
Here is what a drawer full of cardigans taught me. When the cold comes we tend to have two things to reach for. The frumpy pile, the shapeless bobbly cardigans that are warm enough but make you look like you have given up. And the smart pile, the coats and jackets that look nice but are not cosy and are a faff to get on and off indoors. I have owned plenty of both and never once had one thing that was warm, cosy and smart all at once.
A bobbly old cardigan I would not wear out, or a smart jacket that was not the least bit cosy. Those were my two piles, and neither one would do.
The Vienna is the first thing I have owned that is all three, and having practically lived in mine, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Warm and soft in the hand, but with a collar and buttons that lift it.
IT IS A CARDIGAN, BUT IT LOOKS SMART, NOT SAGGY
The frumpy-cardigan worry I will deal with first, because it was my objection too. What changes it is the detailing. It has a neat little knitted collar and proper buttons up the front, so it holds its shape and looks considered, more like a soft jacket than a droopy old cardigan. I put it on and I look tidy and pulled together, which is not a word I have ever been able to use about a cardigan before.
The knitted collar and the buttons. That is what makes it look smart rather than saggy.
The collar and buttons make all the difference. It looks like a smart little jacket, not the frumpy cardigans I usually wear.
Christine B., West BridgfordTHE KNIT IS SOFT, COSY AND GENUINELY WARM
For all that it looks smart, it is properly cosy. The knit is soft and brushed and warm against the skin, so on a cold morning it does the job of a jumper and keeps the chill off beautifully. It is the loveliest thing to put on, warm and soft and comforting, without a scrap of the itch or the bulk you sometimes get.
So soft and warm, like wrapping up in a favourite blanket. It has kept the cold off me all through the mornings.
Margaret E., SouthwellWEAR IT OPEN OR BUTTONED, IT IS TWO LOOKS
Because it buttons all the way up, it does two jobs. Left open over a top it is a relaxed, easy layer. Buttoned right up it becomes a neat little top all on its own, no blouse needed underneath. So it earns its keep twice over, and it means you can adjust it to the weather and the occasion without a second thought.
I wear it open over a blouse or buttoned up on its own. Two outfits from the one cardigan, and both look lovely.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHE CHECK LOOKS CONSIDERED, NOT DOWDY
This is not a plain beige nana cardigan. It comes in a proper check, mine a warm blue and orange, that looks thought-out and a little bit expensive, the sort of pattern you would see on something far dearer. It gives a plain outfit a lift and a bit of cheer on a grey day, and I have had more compliments on it than on anything I have bought in a long while.
The check is gorgeous and cheerful, not the dull beige I expected. I have been asked where it is from three times already.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT IS A RELAXED, FLATTERING SHAPE
It is cut with an easy, relaxed shape that skims rather than clings, with room to slip a top or a thin jumper underneath when it is really cold. It is comfortable to wear all day and it does not pull or bind anywhere, and yet it still has a shape to it, so it flatters instead of swamping you. Cosy and comfortable, but never a shapeless sack.
Soft, cosy and roomy, with a shape that flatters. Room for a top underneath.
Roomy and comfortable with a top underneath, but it still has a shape. It does not swamp me the way baggy cardigans do.
Eileen T., NewarkEIGHT COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly all the way up to a 5XL, which is not something you can say of every pretty cardigan, and it holds its shape wash after wash with no bobbling. It comes in eight colours, from my blue and orange to a red, a pink, a purple, a green and more, so there is a check to suit everyone. I have the blue and orange. I am already eyeing the green for later in the winter.
On the wardrobe door, ready to grab on the next cold morning.
It goes up to my size and still looks lovely and neat, and it washes beautifully. I have ordered a second colour.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Vienna, against the cardigans you have been reaching for
You can find a cardigan for twenty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, because my drawer is full of them, most of them bobbly and shapeless. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Shapeless and bobbly, worn only at home
Plain, dowdy and a bit nana-ish
No shape, swamps you
Warm, but not remotely smart
Often stops at the smaller sizes
Collar and buttons that look smart
A cheerful check that looks considered
Relaxed shape that flatters, never swamps
Cosy and warm, and smart enough to go out
Honest sizes, all the way to a 5XL
About the price
The Vienna is £34.95 at the moment. It was £70.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the popular colours and the middle sizes are the first to go, and once a size in a colour has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and I have found nothing wrong with this one.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded away, ready for the next cold morning that catches me out.
If your cardigan drawer is all bobbly, shapeless things you would not wear out, and you would like one that is warm, cosy and smart enough for the shops, this is the one I would put on your shoulders myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
VIENNA | ELEGANT BUTTON-UP CARDIGAN
- Soft, cosy brushed knit, genuinely warm
- Knitted collar and button front that look smart
- Wear it open or buttoned, two looks
- A cheerful check that looks considered
- Relaxed, flattering shape with room to layer
- Eight colours, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Popular colours and middle sizes go first.