The Best Cardigans for Women, From Fine-Gauge Cashmere to the Long Cardigan Coat

The best cardigans for women are knitted for the job you give them: a fine-gauge cashmere cardigan that buttons flat under a coat, a cable knit that replaces a jacket at weekends, a long cardigan or knit coat for the mild days, and a cropped or polo cardigan cut to meet a high waist. If you buy only one, make it fine cashmere in a dark neutral that ends at the high hip, such as Prada's boxy burgundy crewneck, or Brunello Cucinelli's relaxed charcoal V-neck if you want a longer line.

Below, how to judge fiber, gauge and fit, then the cardigan type by type, from fine cashmere and cables to long, cropped, polo, padded, Fair Isle and evening cardigans: 80 pieces from 31 houses, and which to buy once.

How to choose the best cardigans for women: fiber, gauge and fit

The name comes from James Thomas Brudenell, seventh Earl of Cardigan, who commanded the Light Brigade at Balaclava in October 1854. In a HistoryNet history of Crimean War words, the lexicographer Christine Ammer defines the cardigan as "a collarless sweater that buttons down the front," favored and popularized by the earl. Collars, zips, belts and padding are later variations, and each changes what the garment is for. Three things decide whether one is worth its price.

Fiber

Cashmere is light, warm and the softest of these fibers against the neck; our guide to the best cashmere sweaters explains how to judge its quality in a fitting room. Merino is the alternative people overlook: The Woolmark Company, the wool industry's own body, says merino is generally finer than 22 microns, against 50 to 100 for a human hair, that some ultrafine merino is finer than cashmere, and that many wool garments can be machine washed on a wool cycle if the label allows. Mohair and alpaca give a brushed, haloed surface; silk and cotton make a cooler knit for heated offices. Viscose knits, such as ALAÏA's ribbed cardigans, hold a sculpted line and a sharp rib that wool rarely matches, but they are not warm. Read the composition, not the product name: one cardigan we found listed as "fine cashmere" is 79 percent virgin wool and 20 percent cashmere.

Gauge

Gauge is how fine a knit is. Pringle of Scotland's guide to gauge defines it as the number of stitches per inch: the higher the number, the lighter the knit. Pringle files 12-gauge as the weight for layering, anything from 3 to 12 gauge as hand and chunky knits for fall and winter, and 12 gauge and above as lightweight, fine knits. Few listings print the number (Maison Margiela is the exception, naming cardigans Gauge 5, Gauge 7 and Gauge 14), so zoom in on the ribbing at the cuff: flat, tight ribs mean a fine gauge, fat rounded ribs a low one. Then decide by what goes over it. A fine gauge sits under a blazer or tailored coat; a chunky cardigan is the top layer, because its sleeves will not slide into most coat sleeves.

Fit

Three checks decide fit, and you can make all of them against a cardigan you already own. Length first: lay your favorite flat, measure from the shoulder seam to the hem and compare with the listing where one is given (Jil Sander's crewneck, for instance, is listed at about 24.5 inches). Shoulders next: on a fitted cardigan the seam sits on the shoulder bone. On a dropped shoulder, such as Khaite's Eita, it falls lower by design, and on a semi-raglan, such as Prada's, it angles up toward the neck, so judge those by the sleeve instead: it should reach the wrist bone or be long enough to push up. Last, decide what goes underneath. Close-fitting cardigans, like Dolce & Gabbana's and Jil Sander's, are cut to button over a camisole or a T-shirt. If you want a shirt collar underneath, try it on with the shirt, or go up a size.

Cardigan outfits start with the hem

Most cardigan outfits succeed or fail on where the hem lands. A cropped cardigan needs a high waist and should meet the waistband, not stop short of it. A hip-length cardigan goes over straight or wide trousers, a midi skirt or a slip dress. A long cardigan wants something narrow underneath, a column skirt, slim trousers or a knit dress, so the volume sits in one place. For complete looks, our guide to what to wear with cardigans has ten.

Fine-gauge cashmere cardigans: the one to buy first

A fine cashmere cardigan is the most useful knit you can own because it works at both ends of the day: buttoned as a top under a blazer, open over a dress at dinner. Choose the neckline by what you will wear with it. A crewneck, like The Row's Battersea and Noelia, Prada's boxy burgundy cardigan or Miu Miu's slim gray crew, buttons up to the neck and works as a sweater on its own. A V-neck sits better over a shirt and lies flatter under a coat lapel: Prada's oversized gray V has a semi-raglan shoulder, and Brunello Cucinelli's relaxed charcoal V has patch pockets and a hem that falls below the hip. The closest-fitting are Dolce & Gabbana's, slightly cropped with pearlescent buttons, and Proenza Schouler's pink Valeria, a cashmere rib with silver bead buttons and a low neckline; both work buttoned, as a top. Every piece we picked here is listed as cashmere. Buy a dark neutral first; burgundy works like one.

• A gray V-neck cardigan, buttoned and tucked at the front into gray flannel trousers, with black loafers.
• A burgundy crewneck worn open over an ivory silk blouse, with cream wide-leg trousers and a camel coat.
• A black crewneck buttoned over a black satin slip skirt, with sheer black tights and pumps, for a holiday dinner.

Merino, silk and cotton cardigans: the alternatives to cashmere

Cashmere is not always the right fiber. In our experience, merino holds a crisper shape, and it usually costs less; silk and cotton stay cool in heated rooms. Gabriela Hearst's Ultraris is 100 percent merino in an open lace stitch, and the bordeaux color reads richly over a cream shirt. Jil Sander's crewneck is 100 percent wool and listed as a slim fit. Isabel Marant's Idesia blends 70 percent merino with 30 percent cashmere and is listed as hand wash. Chloé's fitted cardigan is a multistitch wool with a guipure lace collar and fabric-covered buttons. For the office, Carolina Herrera's crewnecks come in silk and cotton or in an almost all-silk pointelle, Bottega Veneta's is a silk double knit with its Nodo Quadro buttons, and Thom Browne's V-neck is a dense Milano cotton knit, which is why it keeps an almost tailored line.

• A navy fitted wool cardigan over a white poplin shirt, collar out, with gray straight trousers.
• A black silk-cotton crewneck over a black camisole, with ivory satin trousers for a dinner straight from work.
• A pearl pointelle cardigan with a gray pleated midi skirt and gray suede pumps.

Cable-knit and chunky cardigans

A chunky cardigan is the top layer, so buy it as you would a jacket. Choose your usual size rather than going down one: cables draw the knit in, and you need room in the sleeve to push it up. Hold it up by the shoulders when you try it or when it arrives: a well-made heavy knit hangs without dropping noticeably toward the hem. Loro Piana's Napier is the classic, a cabled V-neck in 100 percent cashmere with pockets. Brunello Cucinelli's Heritage Cable is knitted from cashmere "feather" yarn with a light nylon reverse that, according to the listing, adds resistance to light contact with water. Valentino Garavani's cashmere cable comes with a detachable belt, and Khaite's Eita is a fisherman's rib in Italian cashmere, gently cropped, with horn buttons and patch pockets. Bottega Veneta and Thom Browne knit theirs in wool, Versace adds Medusa buttons and a notched collar, and Emilia Wickstead's Brinkley adds a shirt collar.

• A cream cable cardigan with ecru jeans and brown suede loafers.
• A chocolate cable cardigan buttoned over a cream turtleneck, with gray flannel trousers.
• A black fisherman-rib cardigan with a black leather midi skirt and knee boots.
• A heather-gray cable over a white shirt with dark indigo jeans and white sneakers.

Mohair, alpaca and brushed cardigans

Brushed knits trap air in their halo, so they feel warmer than their weight suggests. Mohair is the fleece of the Angora goat, clipped twice a year, and the South African mohair industry describes it as lustrous and resilient, with a natural elasticity that helps a mohair knit hold its shape and resist creasing. Read the composition before you judge the price, because brushed mohair cardigans often include polyamide or nylon: TOTEME's is 56 percent mohair, 30 percent polyamide and 14 percent wool, ALAÏA's 56 percent mohair and 34 percent polyamide, and Brunello Cucinelli's malfilé 80 percent mohair and 20 percent nylon. Loro Piana's Cherry Hill is the exception, made of mohair and cashmere only. Isabel Marant's Thelma is 95 percent alpaca with a deep V, Dries Van Noten's belted cardigan mixes alpaca and merino with a brushed finish, Proenza Schouler's Aniza is slim through the body and flares to an A-line hem, and Khaite's Takeo is a snug, collared cardigan in marled cashmere and mohair, with deep ribbing at the hem and cuffs. Two practical notes: in our experience, brushed yarn sheds a little at first, so wear it over a similar color for the first few outings, and it snags on chunky rings and bag hardware.

• A black open-knit mohair cardigan over a white T-shirt, with black wide-leg trousers.
• An oatmeal fuzzy cardigan, buttoned, with a chocolate suede midi skirt and knee boots.
• Turquoise mohair with charcoal tailoring and silver jewelry.

The long cardigan and the cardigan coat

Three different garments share this name. The first is the long knit cardigan: Max Mara's is straight, with dropped shoulders and patch pockets; The Row's Ovaan is open and draped; ALAÏA's ivory wool wrap ties with a belt; Missoni's chevron long cardigan is viscose, light and beautiful but not warm, so treat it as a layer. The second is the knit coat, heavy enough to replace outerwear on milder days: Max Mara's alpaca-silk teddy knit coat is double-breasted and knee length, and Brunello Cucinelli's long tartan coat layers two fine knits, falls to the calf and is lined in silk. The third is not knitted at all. Max Mara's Midi Cashmere Cardigan Coat is hand-stitched double-face cashmere cut like a cardigan, with kimono sleeves and a belt; our guide to the best cashmere coats explains double-face. Keep everything under a long cardigan narrow and close in color, so the length reads as one line. If you are petite, choose a hem just below the knee rather than mid-calf, and keep the low pockets of a heavy knit empty, or they drag the fronts down.

• A charcoal long cardigan worn open over a cream knit dress, with flat knee boots.
• A navy long cardigan buttoned over a white shirt, with gray straight trousers and black loafers.
• An ivory belted wrap cardigan over ivory trousers, all one color, with a burgundy bag.

The cropped cardigan

A cropped cardigan works only with a high waist. Before you buy, check the rise of the trousers and skirts you wear most: the hem should meet the waistband or overlap it by an inch, never leave a gap. Prada's cropped cashmere V and Proenza Schouler's boxy Sofia, with its chest pockets, are the everyday versions. Max Mara's wool-and-cashmere crop is listed from US 2 to US 18. ALAÏA's ribbed crop ends well above the waist, closer to a shrug, and is best over a dress. Balmain's quilted-effect crop has structured shoulders, three-quarter sleeves and gold press studs, so it wears like a short jacket. Valentino Garavani's is cotton with small bows at the sleeves, Carolina Herrera's is silk and cotton, and Khaite's Nora is fitted cashmere with short sleeves and a grosgrain placket.

• A gray cropped V, buttoned, with high-rise black wide-leg trousers and black loafers.
• A dark brown cropped cardigan with cream high-waisted trousers and a burgundy bag.
• A black ribbed crop over a black slip dress for a party.

The polo cardigan and other collared cardigans

A polo cardigan, a cardigan with a shirt collar, does the work of a shirt and a sweater in one, which makes it the best cardigan for the office. Saint Laurent's is short, in 100 percent virgin wool, with a chest pocket and Cassandre medallion buttons. TOTEME's fitted polo cardigan is a smooth viscose blend with a little stretch and a high, structured collar; TOTEME also makes a polo-collared cardigan in 100 percent cashmere, as does The Row with its Lillia. Brunello Cucinelli's shimmering cable polo has a contrast-trimmed collar, Max Mara's is an olive cotton net knit, and Emilia Wickstead's Brinkley has a pointed collar and fine ribbing fitted through the waist. Thom Browne's navy cardigan swaps the polo collar for a contrasting shawl collar. Check the collar on your body: it should lie flat on the collarbone without lifting at the back. If it stands away from your neck, the shoulders are too big.

• A brown polo cardigan with cream wide-leg trousers and burgundy loafers.
• A black fitted polo cardigan tucked into a gray pencil skirt, with black slingbacks.
• A navy shawl-collar cardigan with gray flannel trousers and white leather sneakers on a Friday.

Zip-up and padded cardigans

For a walk to work in November, a padded cardigan is warmer than a sweater of the same bulk: its down front sits behind a woven shell that blocks the wind. Moncler's padded cardigans pair a wool knit with a down-filled quilted front, and some with a quilted back as well; Moncler's listings say they can be worn alone in milder weather or layered under jackets. The navy one is wool and cashmere with a denim-effect cotton front. Miu Miu's version is a down-filled cashmere cardigan with a ribbed turtleneck. ALAÏA's has a two-way zip and a peplum, Givenchy's crimson zip-up is mostly wool, with a little cashmere, and has a high, wide collar, and Max Mara's Filtro is a hooded zip cardigan in a virgin wool and cashmere blend, knitted in panels that follow the body, so it sits closer than most zip-ups. Before you buy, try it under your winter coat: padding at the chest fits under a relaxed coat but rarely under a close-cut one.

• A black padded cardigan under a long charcoal coat, with black trousers and lug-sole boots.
• An ivory padded cardigan with ecru jeans and white sneakers for a weekend walk.
• A crimson zip-up over a white T-shirt, with gray trousers.

Fair Isle, argyle and jacquard cardigans for the holidays

From Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26, to New Year's Day, a patterned cardigan does the festive work so the rest of the outfit can stay plain. Loro Piana's Holiday Noel is a Fair Isle jacquard in cashmere, with a mock neck and a two-way zip. Miu Miu's pink Fair Isle is wool; its argyle cardigan pairs red and ivory diamonds with solid brown sleeves and a polo collar. Dries Van Noten's zip-up is a graphic black-and-ivory wool jacquard with green striped trims and a high collar. Moncler's zip-up mixes a snowflake jacquard with sequins and a chunky collar, Etro's is a floral jacquard, Dolce & Gabbana's is printed leopard, and Missoni's zigzag is shot with metallic fiber. Wear one pattern per outfit, and choose the plain pieces from colors inside the pattern. Argyle and classic Fair Isle come back every winter, so they are worth buying well; a novelty motif is a season or two.

• A Fair Isle cardigan, zipped, with charcoal trousers and black loafers for Thanksgiving lunch.
• A red argyle polo cardigan with a gray pleated skirt and gray tights.
• A leopard cardigan buttoned over a cream silk blouse, with cream trousers.

Embellished and evening cardigans

At a holiday party, a cardigan over a slip dress is softer than a blazer and easier to sit in, and the evening versions are made for exactly that. Valentino Garavani's black wool cardigan is trimmed down the front with feathers. Tom Ford's is a velvet jacquard. Oscar de la Renta's short-sleeved, pale gray wool cardigan is embroidered with crystal flowers, Carolina Herrera's black silk-cotton crop is scattered with beaded pink roses, Dolce & Gabbana's pink cropped cashmere has crystal buttons, and Givenchy keeps its pearl embroidery to the cuffs of a black V-neck. Saint Laurent's gold lamé cable cardigan is trimmed with shearling, and Max Mara's is sequined. Decoration at the cuffs or buttons is easier to wear than all-over beading, because it goes with more of what you own. Check the care line: several of these are specialist or dry clean only.

• The feather-trimmed black cardigan over a black slip dress, with sheer tights and satin pumps.
• The pale gray crystal cardigan, buttoned, with a silver pleated midi skirt.
• A pink crystal-button crop over a burgundy velvet slip skirt.

Our holiday party outfit guide goes through every invitation, from the office party to black tie.

How to look after a cardigan

Most cardigans are ruined by drying and storage, not by wear. Woolmark's drying advice is to dry knitwear flat whenever possible, because drying on a line or a hanger lets the weight of the water pull a knit longer and out of shape. Button a cardigan before you wash it and before you fold it, so the placket keeps its line. Unbutton a chunky cardigan to take it off instead of pulling it over your head, which stretches the buttonholes. Shake brushed mohair out after wearing to lift the pile. Padded, sequined and feather-trimmed cardigans follow their own care labels, and those labels are strict; ALAÏA's viscose crop, for example, is listed as do not wash.

How we chose

We read the composition of every cardigan before it went in. Every cardigan in the fine-gauge module is listed as cashmere; elsewhere a blend had to do something (silk for coolness, polyamide in a brushed yarn), and we left out pieces whose names promised more cashmere than their labels did. We judged gauge from the knit itself, because few listings give it, and grouped the cardigans by the job they do, which is why a knit coat and a woven cardigan coat share a module. We looked at every photograph, since several listings named a color the picture did not show. We spread the picks across houses and prices, from pieces under $1,000 at TOTEME, Emilia Wickstead, Isabel Marant and Max Mara to Brunello Cucinelli's knit coats, and preferred styles with at least three sizes left. Two have shorter runs, Miu Miu's pink Fair Isle and Max Mara's oversized teddy knit coat; we kept them because we found nothing to match them. We published this ahead of the cold: in our own data, questions to our AI stylist about knitwear, boots and coats rose in October last year.

Frequently asked questions

Which designer cardigans are worth buying?

It depends on the type: for fine cashmere, The Row, Prada and Brunello Cucinelli; for cables, Loro Piana and Khaite; for polo cardigans, Saint Laurent and TOTEME; for padded cardigans, Moncler; for evening, Valentino Garavani and Oscar de la Renta. At the lower end of this guide's range, TOTEME's polo-collared cardigan is still pure cashmere.

What gauge is best for a cardigan?

For a cardigan you will wear under a blazer or coat, a fine gauge: Pringle of Scotland describes 12-gauge as the weight for layering and anything above it as lightweight and fine. For a cardigan you will wear as a jacket, a chunky knit, which Pringle places between 3 and 12 gauge.

How should a cardigan fit?

The shoulder seam should sit on your shoulder bone, unless the cardigan has a dropped or raglan shoulder, and the sleeves should reach your wrist bone. Buttoned, the front should lie flat over what you plan to wear underneath. A cropped cardigan should meet your waistband; a regular one ends at the high hip.

Is a cashmere or merino cardigan better?

Cashmere is warmer for its weight and softer at the neck. Merino, in our experience, holds a crisper shape; it is usually less expensive, and often easier to wash: Woolmark says many wool garments can go in the machine on a wool cycle when the label allows. For the office, a fine merino is often the better buy.

Are long cardigans flattering?

Yes, when what is underneath is narrow and close in color, so the cardigan reads as one long line. Petite women should choose a hem just below the knee rather than at mid-calf. Belted styles, like ALAÏA's wrap, add a waist.

How do you stop a cardigan from stretching?

Dry it flat, never on a hanger, and fold it to store it. Button it before washing and folding so the placket keeps its shape, and unbutton it to take it off.

Keep reading

• What to wear with cardigans: ten looks
• How to tell good cashmere before you buy
• Work outfit ideas for every day of the week
• Weekend outfit ideas, from errands to Sunday lunch
• Thanksgiving outfit ideas for guests and hosts

Shop all cardigans, sweaters, coats and eveningwear, or describe the cardigan you already own to our AI stylist and ask what to wear it with this week.