… cropped outer layers.
SHOCKER, right? But let me tell you why this style of cardigan, jacket, and shrug has become such a staple for me. I have a fairly high natural waist, and I like to accentuate it. Belts aren’t always an option, so placing the hemline of an outer layer high on my torso is a great alternative. I get cold easily so I generally prefer to keep my arms covered, and cropped cardis and coats allow me to wear my sleeveless dresses and tops in comfort. Boleros and short jackets add volume to my bustline, which balances out my hips. And, finally, this style of outer layer has a sassy retro vibe that I simply cannot resist.
Here are a few cropped outer layers that have caught my eye of late:
G by GUESS Sandy Cropped Jacket – $44.95
I adore my cropped denim jacket, though mine is more like a shrunken version of a traditional jean jacket. This lovely dark wash option has a rounded neckline and three-quarter sleeves, which makes it perfect for late summer and fall transitional wear.
Donna Ricco Three Quarter Sleeve Knit Cardigan – $58
Such a basic, versatile shape but with flattering details including a slightly scooped neckline and three-quarter sleeves. This electric blue is a marvelously trendy shade, but I love this sweater in purple and coral, too.
Nine West Cropped Tuxedo Blazer – $119
Cropped blazers can feel stiff and awkward, and many end up looking a bit boxy. But this one has a nipped-in waist, architectural detailing, and a fabulous shape. Bit pricey right now, but I’m betting it’ll go on sale …
Jessica Howard Bolero Sweater – $29.99
If you prefer a curved hem look, bolero sweaters like this one are a fabulous bet. I find this style to be fabulous for enhancing the bustline and accentuating the waist. This guy also comes in black and olive green.
Do cropped cardigans, jackets, or boleros work on YOUR figure? How do they play off your features?
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve tried defining my waist, but you posted about proportions not too long ago (I think it was the “thirds rule”) and now I see how defining a high waist with long legs is too much, so I generally go for lower rise pants and a top layer that hits my torso lower than my natural waist. Amazingly this makes me look more streamlined.
I’ve recently discovered cropped outer layers work well for me. They visually lengthen my legs, which helps balance my hips. They also define the narrowest part of my torso, and I feel they help balance my large bust, which is interesting since you feel it adds volume for you!. I find I can only use them with dresses or skirt/top combos that match in color, otherwise I get “chopped” in too many places.
I love wearing my cardis unbuttoned, but one thing drives me crazy. I can’t get them to sit over my bust neatly without slipping off to the sides, especially when I walk and they flap about between my body and arms. Any hints? Am I doing something wrong with the shape I choose, or am I perhaps just unlucky enough to be accompanied by a small breeze from the right direction wherever I walk?
Nope it’s not you, it’s the clothes! Maybe try a little fashion tape? Tack the cardi sides to your inner layer. It’s also possible that tacky fabrics will work better. So, for instance, a cotton cardi and cotton tank will stick to each other, but if you opt for a rayon or silk tank instead, you’ll get that slipping action.
Thanks Sal, I think the fashion tape might be worth a try!
Oh, yes – I seek out cropped jackets, cardigans, and boleros. One of the few things I will even pay full price for and not wait to go on sale. I find them to be very flattering to my figure (short hourglass) and very necessary in the actic office air conditioning! I bought a hot pink bolero when you suggested it as an insomniac sales pick a few weeks back – thank you for that and even more suggestions here!
But these don’t show off your waist. Rather the short jackets cut you in odd proportions. Seriously–retake these pix minus the shrugs and take a look. And while I understand about cold, I think you can find another style of covering that will be work better. And the extra top layer doesn’t balance your hips, which don’t need “balancing”. Sorry, but I think you’re not seeing clearly.
Well I don’t need to show off my waist at all times (although I would argue that these garments do just that), and get to decide for myself if my hips need balancing. In most cases I’m pairing this style of outer layer with a high-waisted garment, so the proportions would be quite similar minus the shrug or jacket. Aside from very fitted blazers, longer outer layers completely mask my curves and waistline or cling awkwardly to my hips. My natural figure is totally obscured and my proportions thrown off. I have, in fact, experimented quite a bit before deciding that these work for me. You’re certainly entitled to your opinion and I do appreciate your honesty, Margo, but we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one!
I think that there’s a happy medium between long droopy layers and these short shrugs. True you don’t always need to show your waist, but the post above said that you “like to accentuate it.” which isn’t happening in these photos. The pants and longer top would work without the jacket and with an obi-like belt in a soft fabric. Besides, I think we’ve seen this combo on you quite a bit over the years, and I for one would like to see you try something else. Your sleeveless dress in the Blogher Fashion Show was great-but I’d like to see that without the flexed bicep pose. It did show off your figure. Can you show those here?
The thing about style is it is all a matter of opinion. I like how these layers look on me, so I wear them! I like the proportions, I feel they accentuate my waist, and they make me feel good about myself. You may not like them and you may not agree with how I view them, but neither of us is right or wrong.
To say that you’ve “seen this combo on you quite a bit over the years” is true – as I’ve said, it’s a favorite – but it’s not the only combination I ever wear. Not by a longshot. Furthermore, I tell everyone who reads this blog that they should wear items that align with their own tastes, figure flattery priorities, and comfort levels, and I get to do the same. I dress for enjoyment, creativity, and as a means of being in touch with my body. Just as I hope everyone else does. If I dress to please you and not myself, I am betraying my own mission. This is my style. It has shifted and changed quite a lot over the years and I am always trying new things, but some things will remain constant.
I do not currently have access to other photos from the BlogHer fashion show.
But I think what the pp was alluding to, as someone who sees you in pictures, it doesn’t seem like you need to balance your hips. Your figure, to me, is nice and you seem to have broad shoulders (I do too!) so adding the cropped cardis only emphasize that. If you like that, which you’ve said, that’s cool. We’ll agree to disagree. But, when emphasizing dress for your shape, I think there is something to be said when other people think your shape is different than what you think it is. I often watch What Not to Wear and I think Stacey and Clinton always do a great job really catering to each woman’s figure, pointing out which proportions look best on them. I think the pp meant that the cropped cardigan, objectively, is not the most flattering for people with broad shoulders
Maybe it doesn’t seem like Sally needs to balance her hips because…. she balances them so well with her clothing choices? Just a thought
Definitely agreeing with this post – boleros and crop jackets skew proportions in a strange way. I’d love to see the pictures re-taken without the crops, just to see a side-by-side comparison!
I have one of the short sleeved bolero type sweaters to wear over tanks and sleeveless dresses, if its cool, or just to cover up a bit. Howver, I got rid of all my cropped or shorter jackets and cardigans a year or so ago when the longer look became the trend. Is it just me or are the fashion trends going in and out faster these days?!! I had many cute jackets and sweaters but where they hit on my body definitely looked “out-dated”. I hate to say it but when I see someone wearing a very cropped jean jacket or sweater I can’t help but think that its out of style – to me that was one of those really trendy styles that really looks out of place now, at least to me. Now I really don’t know what is in style! Should we really care? probably not, but hey we are reading a fashion blog, so I care….
Interesting. My impression is that trends have a longer life cycle now! In terms of cropped jackets and sweaters being “out,” everyone from trendy retailers like Forever 21 and Anthropologie to mainstays like Nordstrom are carrying them and have been for years … so I’d say they’re a safe bet.
I’m a huge fan, especially of the style that is just sleeves. I find when I want to wear something over jersey dresses and empire sun dresses , something that doesn’t obscure the dresses lines works best, especially if the dress doesn’t have a defined waist- a loose over layer just looks boxy. (a belted sweater would also work, but that is alot of layers in the summer) I get alot of mine thru dance catalogues, plus super cute little wrap sweaters.
I love the look of cropped over-layers, on other people. I have tried them, but on my short, rectangular, busty torso, with long legs, cropped jackets & cardis seem to accentuate my bust and lack of waistline, and make me look top heavy. For myself, I prefer short, fitted blazers/jackets that end at or just below my hipbones and have a ‘nipped in’ waist. I don’t usually button them, and sometimes can’t really, but over a tank, or T-shirt, the open front creates a vertical line, and the hipbone length w/ nipped waist gives a suggestion of curves that I don’t actually have.
I’m with you on the joys of a cropped cardigan but have found that I need to deploy them very carefully – I’m average height, hourglass shaped and at the smaller end of plus sizes. I usually wear cropped cardigans with full skirts/full skirted dresses – they do tend to emphasize my bust, which really doesn’t need any more emphasis, but by stopping at my waist they show that I do have one where a longer cardigan that hits at the hip makes me look like a chunky little pyramid.
I like wearing a cropped cardigan over sleeve-less tops or tanks to work in the summer. I often feel a little “naked” without any sleeves, and a light-weight cardigan solves that problem.
Believe it or not, I found a fabulous black bolero at Motherhood Maternity. Yes, it is a maternity store, but I think the bolero is such a basic, neutral design it could work on anyone, anytime.
Oh, I believe it! I’ve thrifted a few maternity duds in my time, and love ‘em.
Your cropped cardigans have inspired me to work on more tailored looks for fall. I’m a short hourglass with a high waist, so cropped or fitted are the best way to avoid the one-blob-straight-down look.
My biggest gripe about sweaters these days is that the sleeves are so fitted, though. I’m a big fan of a turtleneck under a sweater, especially as a walker, and have trouble finding sweaters with sleeves that don’t bunch and constrain. I suppose it’s time to take up knitting.
man I must me a minority. I always find that they do the exact opposite on myself and detract from my waist and make me look large. I have a large bosom though so I don’t know if that is why I think they are so horrifically unflattering on me.
See, now, those cropped jackets look just dandy on you, but on me they are a fashion disaster. My bust if full enough already. without adding extra bulk up there, for one thing. My shoulders are very angular, my neck is short and, probably most importantly, my hips are straight and narrow. Any cropped layer makes me appear topheavy enough to tip right over on my face. Not a good look. The effect is particularly pronounced with skinny jeans, which I wear all the time. So cute as the cropped jacket is on you, it’s a no-go for me.
Totally makes sense. This style can definitely add volume to the bust and shoulder line.
Hm, maybe they work for me, despite my large bust, because I have very narrow shoulders?
Could be! And I’d think that someone with your frame (narrow shoulders, large bust) would have better luck than someone who has broad shoulders – like Brenda, who commented below.
I have narrow shoulders and a large bust- they work great on me!
I agree with the broad shoulder issue. Mine are huge in proportion and cropped tops make me look like a football tackle!
I really like this look on you. I love dresses and like the idea of cropped sweaters, but I’ve struggled with them on my body. I’m a 5’1″ inverted triangle. Every time I’ve tried on a sweater this this, all I can see in the mirror is shoulders. I still wear kinda cropped sweaters, just not as cropped as you prefer.
I typically like longer cardigans. I have a high waist,and anything cropped makes my torso look wider and like it is all boobs. That is not my preferred look, and long cardigans are nice and cozy!
Yup, I wear them all the time! Especially as I’ve moved to England where it’s colder than my home country AND we’ve been having a miserable cold wet summer. I live in little cotton cardies.
I wish cropped looks worked on me, but they really don’t. It puts way too much emphasis on my shoulders and makes my waist look thicker. It’s taken me awhile to realize that shape didn’t work on me, but now that I do, I stick to my hipbone length or longer pieces.
I love how you wear those short jackets and cardigans. I have a similar figure to yours, exept I have a bit more high, square hip, and I love how a short jacket over a dress accentuates the waist without my having to wear a belt, which in some cases (when I´m up a pound or two) makes my hips a bit shelf-like. I am shamelessly copying you, having cropped several of my jackets and cardies and made them so much more wearable!
A warning about the Nine West jacket…..I’m shaped in a similar way to you and I tried this jacket in person a few weeks ago as part of a suit for an interview. Everything you say about it is true……but in person, the shoulder pads are HUGE and make the jacket “float” awkwardly (at least on me)
I do like the cropped cardigan. I have a few of them (I’ve even made one) and I really love how they work with the proportions of a skirt, dress or pants, to highlight a narrow waist. My waist is short, as you know, and my chest is not small, but I still think this look flatters me as my shoulders and hips are not wide.
I find cropped jackets/sweaters, personally, and avoid them entirely. My torso is long in proportion to my body, so when I wear cropped jackets all you see is TORSO. So I tend to stick to jackets with a defined waist — I just make sure that they hit my hips or waist.
That being said, I do think they can look good on others!
That reminds me of one of my favorite bloggers! Her signature look is a colorful cropped cardigan, polo/collar shirt, different color high skirt, and tights. She recently wrote about them.
http://www.notwithoutincident.net/2012/07/wardrobe-essentials.html
LOVE those looks on her! Thanks for sharing this link, Alena.
I’ve been looking for some new cardigans for the fall and now I’m wondering if I should try one of those little boleros I saw at Target. They make sense to me over a dress, but as a nursing mom I tend to wear a skirt and tee instead. All the other cardigans this fall are unstructured and long, which will make me look like a pudgy cylinder. Any tips on where to look for a twin-set style cardi?
Oh gosh, for actual twin sets I’d say Talbots and J.Crew … but Banana Republic, Gap, and Old Navy generally carry traditional (non-cropped, non-boyfriend) style cardigans, too!
I’ve been buying the cutest bolero cardigans on ebay from a seller called Monica. They are new and I don’t see any like them in stores.
You would think that with my freakishly long torso and short legs that cropped jackets would look terrible, but they actually work quite well for me. I think the magic is in the way they visually raise my waistline. Something that hits even just a few centimeters above my natural waist seems to balance my proportions.
I’ve been working through your book and it has been coming to me like a flash of realization that this is MY style, what I want to be my signature look. I am up to the part in the book where I answer questions about my favorite time period for style and mine is the times of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, and at the same time I had been realizing that I feel prettiest in an empire waist dress with a shoulder only/ bolero/ cropped cardigan. That is pretty much a modern day look of the Pride and Prejudice times, I think. I have a short waist and am an overweight hour glass figure (probably a figure 8 by Imogen Lampert’s definition, so an”O” right now). Thanks for the pictures!