… long cardigans.
It took me AGES to get on this train, but now I simply cannot imagine my life without cozy, long cardigans. The “boyfriend” designation irks me a bit, so I’m sticking to “long.” Especially because my cardigans aren’t limited to the v-necked, button-down variety. I love ‘em belted, drapey, and straight up-and-down.
For those who feel that this style works only on boyish figures, consider waterfall-front styles, belting, buttoning a few buttons but leaving the rest open … there are many styles and just as many ways to wear them.
That said, I know this item isn’t topping everyone’s list of faves. Are you a fan of long cardigans? How do you wear yours? Have you tried multiple styles? What’s your favorite brand?
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I really love all the brown and tans in this set of pics
I really really love brown, and you have loads of great brown pieces! The first outfit is my favorite, I so wish I could wear yellow, it’s one of my favorite colors so I have to say I’m a little envious 
I’ve got a couple but I don’t wear them much. A grey stretchy knit and a navy knit, both from H&M. I find when I wear them with pants I look frumpy. I don’t have many dresses I like to wear regularly, but I usually end up wearing long sleeves with them when I do.
My favourite way to wear is with leggings and a tunic, so comfy and still put-together if you throw on a pair of knee high boots.
I know this post is about cardigans, but the thing that appealed to me the most is the adorable newspaper boy style hat/cap and oh so flattering on you!
Now i’m convinced to give it a try!
In theory, I like them. In reality, I don’t wear leggings which I think is what makes these look so great in your outfits. I also have a really tough time finding the right fit in anything that covers my top and bottom halves – to fit well over my butt and hips, it ends up being too large on top. They do look lovely though!
I love long cardigans, have for years, whether they are in or out of style, and have many different styles although I tend to go for long and slim or with big dramatic and asymmetric necklines. I wish I knew of a brand that was consistently long enough for my height and long torso. Maybe another commenter will know just the thing.
I like long cardigans because for my curvy figure covering my hips softens the curves. I like to take some of my old dresses that I have outgrown and wear them as “cardigans” especially the sleeveless one, gives the illusion to me of a long vest. I really love the way you wear them but I don’t own any belts, so I am going to start looking at them more closely, I have a small waist but I have always feared belting would make my hips seem larger. I like to wear mine a few buttoned in the front. Love all the looks above
The “boyfriend” designation really super-bothers me when it is applied to something purple, with ruffles. Old Navy, I’m giving you the stinkeye here. OK, maybe their web copyeditors just have really flamboyant boyfriends and they’re subverting the overused buzzword. Which is awesome if true, but somehow I doubt that that was the kind of boyfriend the trend-namers had in mind, so therefore calling something a boyfriend cardigan if it’s only seen on dominant-culture-defying boyfriends is a little…odd.
But I digress.
I love long cardigans. Especially the drapey, heavy rayon ones that can be worn all through the warm season, they are my absolute favorite ever layering trend. See, oh, about 100 of my archived outfits since I bought my first drapey rayon cardigan this summer.
I like the look, but I rarely find cardigans that look right on me. I’m 5’3″, so most long cardigans are too long on me, both in the overall length and in the sleeve length. They end up making me look like a child playing dress-up.
I am a complete sweater girl – last week I bought a blush pink (I rarely go pink) cardigan. Lovely photos.
I will have to send you a photo.
Are you sure you didn’t steal our cat, Pocus? They look identical
Having seen the photos, I can confirm that Nadine is in possession of Simon Kitty’s long-lost twin. Crazy!
I’ve got one long-ish cardi (it hits high on the thigh) that is super lightweight, a gorgeous primary blue and goes with practically everything. It’s an Old Navy boyfriend cardi (sorry, Cynthia! but it is true boyfriend style, no ruffles, no embellishments) that I picked up on Black Friday for a very reasonable price. All my other cardis are waist length. I’m short so I really thought longer cardis would make me look shorter, but as long as it’s styled right I think it looks ok.
I used to have a car-coat length, very thick knit one that hit at the knee, but I looked about 4 ft tall in it so I gave it away to a taller relative.
Oh yes! I love them. I can’t find ones as long as yours – I wish I could. I love to wear them over jersey dresses with tights and boots.
Thanks for all the great examples, this is a style I have wanted to try more, but always end up feeling like I’m drowning in them! (Perhaps related to being short AND curvy…). What is a “waterfall” style?
The types that have cascading lapels. Like this guy: http://www.express.com/shark-bite-flyaway-cardigan-35808-43.pro?absSectionID=2&Mrsavf=SIZE_NAME&Mrsavf=category&Mrsavf=Color&Mpper=3&Mpos=19&Mft=cardigan&Mrsaa=*&Mpg=SEARCH%2BNAV
Thanks! I actually own one in this style, and its the best fit i’ve found – good to know what it’s called!
I LOVE them! I wear them with everything – leggings, skinny jeans and boots, over dresses or skirts. I like them to hit mid thigh right at the base of my hips. I particularly like Ann Taylor Loft’s bf cardigans (they’ve had the the past few seasons). I also have some great open (non buttoning) one from Express that are pretty fab.
It’s a tricky item. I have a blue one similar to your yellow cardi in the first photo, and I like to wear it over a belted dress and tights, like in Simon’s picture. But wearing a belt OVER the cardigan makes me look like a cinched garbage bag. The straighter styles look best on me, especially with skinny jeans and tall boots. I don’t care for the traditional “boyfriend” button-up style with the pockets; it makes my hips look a mile wide.
Nice! Nice! I love all the looks. I don’t currently own a long cardigan, but I’ve recently started knitting a sleeveless cardigan (otherwise known as a vest, but somehow I’m uneasy with that designation) that I am now inspired to make long, long. I am still working on the body below the arms, am not using a pattern, and have plenty of wool, so I can make this garment as long as I like. (Or maybe I will put sleeves on it after all…we’ll see.) Thanks for the inspiration!
They don’t work for me, and I think it’s a height/length issue. Because I am so tall, they end up hitting me in an awkward spot.
Fit is especially critical for these, too. They should fit close in the shoulder and arm, but not cling to the hips. Tough to find!
I’m glad it’s not just me who dislikes the “boyfriend” thing, especially when retailers apply it to *anything* that fits a touch longer or looser than whatever the standard fit is. Anyway, I love long cardigans! I ordered one from Aerie / American Eagle a couple of months ago, and it’s fantastically warm and comfortable.
Long cardis have become my staple as well – but only a specific kind. I like ones without embellishment or buttons – just plain, long, straight or a-line drapey cardigans. I don’t have a waistline to show off, but I can easily “fake” a waist by wearing a cardigan over a belted dress or top.
And Sal, as always, you look fantastic!
Trying to decide why I have trouble styling the dress-cardi combo while yours look so great. My dresses are usually knee length, and the cardis are shorter, so I think it is proportions. I often look chopped up when I do something over a dress. At first looking at your pix I thought the cardi should be longer than the dress, then other pix the dress/tunic is longer than the cardi. So I don’t know. What is it that makes these work??
Hmmm. The length discrepancies are never more than about two inches in these outfits, and I think that makes all the difference. I finally figured out why I ended up hating my outfit from yesterday (http://www.alreadypretty.com/2011/02/daily-outfit-22211.html), and it’s that the length discrepancy between the outer and inner layers is just too great. Looks weird and a bit sloppy to me.
Maybe pair dresses and cardigans that either align perfectly, or are no more than two inches away from each other in length?
I just thrifted a few this winter for the first time and I like them! I’ve got a few “grandpa” cardigans that I throw over dresses to winterize them, but it’s not something I do a lot! The ones that are actually made to be long women’s cardigans, are much more flattering so I’ve been keeping an eye out for those!
I like long cardis, because I have a short torso. They’re great for when I feel like elongating my figure, since shorter sweaters and jackets tend to accentuate my short torso.
I got kind of obsessed with them this year! They are just so cozy!
I really like the way long cardigans look from the front and side but not so much from the back. They just seem to look kind of “blobbish” from behind. Any suggestions?
Hmmm. I’ve seen people use brooches to cinch the backs of blazers … might work for a long cardigan, too. http://www.alreadypretty.com/2010/03/alternate-uses-for-jewelry.html Though that might affect how it drapes in the front.
I adore the ones in the second and third pictures up there. Have been on the lookout for a long cardi that still gives me a bit of a waist. Being a plus size curvy girl I gotta watch things that are too boxy.
Also I need to find one that isn’t itchy. I picked up an acrylic shawl necked big cardi which I sort of can’t wear because I seem to be sensitive to something in it and it just makes me itch.
But the hunt goes on… thanks so much for the inspirations!!!
I’m (these days) on the border of plus sized, and also curvy. I find that a brooch or hook of some kind on cardis jut below the bustline does wonders for creating a waist. (And I don’t “do” belts.)
I love the yellow! It brought a smile to my face ~ as though it is a small ray of sunshine in the winter. However, I must admit all of the outfits are well put together.
I have a hard time finding long sweaters that fit, because I’m a) tall and b) larger on the bottom. They are awfully cozy, though. I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of the looks in your first and fifth photos – to me it just looks like you forgot to put on pants (or a skirt), even with the leggings.
Interesting. Especially since, in the fifth photo, I’m wearing jeans.
I think I love them *too* much. I started buying them en masse last year and they’ve completely changed my style. Dresses used to be a summer only thing but now I can layer a longer cardigan over a dress for winter. Skinny jeans and leggings used to make me extremely uncomfortable but with a longer cardigan, it all of a sudden works. What I have found is that I sometimes “surrender my figure” with longer cardigans but I kind of don’t care
I LOVE long cardigans. I think probably the best piece of advice I got from the handful of times I used a personal shopper was that I should be wearing long things, because I am tall. If I wear short things, I run the risk of looking like I’m wearing something too small for me. In fact, related to an earlier post of yours, this is how I really started getting into Eileen Fisher. She is a good source for long jackets and cardigans.
And I love your last look so much. Where is that cardigan from?
Thanks, lady! The last cardi is from Jones New York. Sold out, I’m afraid, but I’d bet they bring it back next season!
I love wearing long cardigans, although at my height, I think they definitely hit me a bit higher than they hit you. I wear them with a lot of different outfits, but I think my favorite way to wear them is over dresses, which I do a lot.
I’m glad that you mentioned that you don’t just have to wear them open. I wear mine partially buttoned and/or belted quite a bit and it helps give me a little of my shape back.
I love long outerwear, but I’m pretty sure most of my cardigans are shorter. I have “sweatercoat” on my wishlist, but I honestly don’t know where I’d store a bulky long sweater. I really love your maroon one above!
Sal, your gray and white kitty is a polydactyl!
Don’t I know it! Six toes on every paw. I keep expecting him to start picking locks or shuffling cards …
Great outfits, I love the yellow and red cardigans. You always look so cheerful in your pictures.
Principessa Gabriella
I love the way they look on you, but on me they look horrible.
We once had a polydactyl–his name was Digit!
I am a new convert. I found them hard to style because I’m not very tall but I found that waterfall or drapey styles work really well. I got my Mum to try one on too and now she has four! I think you’re right, there’s a cut for everyone, you just need to find it.
I love long cardis, especially when they are heavy. My navy blue, cable-knit Lucky Brand one is my favorite thing I own right now. It is so luxurious and cozy! I wore it today with a ruffly patterned tank top, olive skinny jeans, and ankle boots. I’ve also worn it with a gray tulle dress–the contrast in textures delights me. But I wear them with nearly everything, especially because my office is always so cold.
I’ve just discovered long cardigans and I’m hooked!
They hide my figure flaws and are so comfy!
Looking good! I especially love the similar toned ones over skirts and dresses – very chic! And anything that lets you show off your amazing collection of boots is a good thing.
My husband keeps saying ‘you’ve got a pair of boots’ in a mystified sort of way when I talk longingly about a certain toffee brown lace up pair that I’m yearning over…
Oh, that’s rich! Like saying, “You’ve already got a shirt.”
Longer cardigans sometime overwhelm my height, so I often cross the ends over and belt them.
Aren’t boyfriend cardigans/grandpa sweaters one and the same? I’m not much for the labels of either, but I do like the styles.
It took me a while to get into the long cardigan thing, I’m narrow in the hip area and full in the bust, so it was hard to find something that wasn’t tent-like. I found a gorgeous drapey-front long cardigan that cinched in the back with a tie. In fact, I wore it today with a skirt!
I only have one long cardigan, a gray v-neck one. I love it, but it’s mainly a autumn and spring piece. In the winter I wear a hip-length, not too stylish, but oh so warm parka, and I hate having the sweater hanging down beneath it. So it gets relegated to around-the-apartment wear only until the weather’s warm enough that it can be my outer layer.
I feel the same way, Jules, though I’ve been known to tuck sweatery ends up into my down coat and then untuck when I arrive at my destination!
I love long cardigans! I’m seriously obsessed with them.
One of the things that you do so beautifully is wear a variety of colors. It might be that I live in Florida, so when it gets cold here, I have no clue what to do. But I tend to wear grays, blacks and whites. I would never think to wear a yellow cardigan or red tights. (You look gorgeous in these, by the way!) Your pics always inspire me! Hopefully, it’ll continue to warm up here, but if it doesn’t, I’ll start experimenting with brighter colors! 
Newest follower. I love your style!
I love the cardigans! Your looks are so fresh
I love it! I am wondering, however, how you keep your nice boots clean during the winter snow months. I am having such trouble with that! Salt and water always ruin mine. except for my two pairs of snow boots of course.
Oh, I wear my snow boots to work, carry my nice boots in a tote, and swap them in on arrival. If I’m going to be outside for any length of time, I either wear my Sorels or other pairs of rugged or purposely distressed-looking boots.
OMG, love em!!! I’m trying to find more actually. Heading out to a small boutique in Woodstock, NY this weekend to hopefully score something cute. I just thing they are awesome as a layering piece.. over pants, tights, a dress you name it.
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