Cardigan for vintage lovers

A cardigan is a must-have for each vintage lover. The word cardigan reminds of an overanxious mother being afraid she or her kids would catch a cold and therefore regularly asked “wouldn’t it be better to wear a cardigan?”.

In those days your wardrobe wasn’t that extended yet and winter coats were misleading thin. In the sixties we didn’t have downy coats. For this reason we had to wear multiple layers to enjoy some warmth. A shirt (which you wore the entire week), underpants which were of course exchanged regularly and a warm woollen over it (terribly itchy).

Over the undershirt you wore a blouse or a skirt and a jumper and last but not least your cardigan of course. In my youth I had a pink cardigan and my sister a pale blue one. Although my sister was slightly boyish, I wonder if it was her choice (she was two years older than me) or my mother’s choice.

Schoolgirl look with pink cardigan

Actually a vintage dress can always be combined with a cardigan, both in summer, winter, spring and autumn. The pastel coloured, finely knitted cardigans with a button at the top complete your fifties vintage-look, just like for example a pair of gloves and white socks or a flat Peter Pan collar. It completes the sweet schoolgirl style lots of today’s teens want to imitate when creating a vintage look.

Bat wings or cobweb

Gothics look fine in a cardigan as well, of course not a pastel coloured one but a black or purple one, chunky knitted/wide-meshed crocheted, making it look like a cobweb. You can easily make such cardigans yourself. The thicker your crochet hook, the sooner you will be done. If you use chain stitches you will get large stitches and you will be done in an hour.

Not so nude with crocheted sleeveless cardigan

Although you think of the warmth such a knitted or crocheted cardigan will bring, you can perfectly use it over a bikini or bathing suit as well. A kind of beach cardigan, making you feel less nude than just a bathing suit. A sleeveless cardigan made of crocheted cotton would be a nice option. By the way, a sleeveless half-long cardigan was extremely trendy in the seventies. I had a lilac cardigan. In short, a cardigan should be part of your vintage basics, preferably in several colours.