The older I get, the fonder I get of cardigans. I was never really a cardigan person before (preferring sweaters and sweatshirts), but now that I’m closer to 40 than 30, I really love cardigans. It’s no wonder cardigans are typically favored by grandmas. Last winter I found that I wore my Grana (oh “vintage” Grana, you were the best) cashmere cardigan a ton. It pilled quite a bit but then I just used my electric pill shaver and it looked almost as good as new. And since I don’t have too many other cold-weather cardigans in my closet, I decided to splurge on Everlane’s ReCashmere Varsity Cardigan. I liked the fact that it used 60% recycled cashmere and that it was a more cropped fit. So what did I think of this new-fangled reCashmere and this cardigan in general?
lol a little halloween outfit
{Wearing: Everlane ReCashmere Varsity Cardigan, Only Child Alta top in raw silk, Everlane Easy Chinos, Vince Blair sneakers. On Emi: Carter’s chicken costume}
This is a great cardigan but if you’re expecting it to feel anything like cashmere you better keep looking. The 40% merino wool gives the sweater the bit of scratchiness you expect from wool. But I also think the blended fabric will help the cardigan from pilling too much (since 100% pure cashmere pills like crazy). I really like the fit of the sweater because it hits right above my hips on my 5’4” frame. I’m wearing the small and it fits great. I also really love the details like the ribbed neckline and button area, and the dark buttons. It looks and feels like a grandpa sweater without feeling oversized.
What I didn’t care for about this ReCashmere cardigan was the fact that they have to use all these small pieces of plastic to include a single button (which I probably will lose anyway). It’s plastic in plastic, attached by plastic. Dear Everlane, if you’re really trying to be sustainable and go through all the trouble of using recycled fibers and recycled plastic, please get rid of the extra plastic in your packaging. I know it’s a small detail that the factory probably automatically decides for you, but it’s the kind of details that can make a difference (especially when you’re producing hundreds of sweaters and other items that come with all these pieces of disposable plastic). In general, I’ve found that Everlane’s packaging practices needs some thought and improvement if they’re really trying to be a new kind of ethical company.
Also the price was kind of steep at $120. And when I compare the transparent pricing between this cardigan and Everlane’s $100 cashmere sweater I don’t see much a of a difference in production cost. So I’m thinking Everlane is trying to keep the cost of its $100 cashmere the same (because it’s all in the name right? $120 Cashmere just doesn’t sound as catchy), but the costs of the other sweaters definitely went up with the new tariffs in place (duties are now $6.54, when it used to be $1.76 assuming Everlane didn’t change the infographic). But to be fair, $120 is on par if not a bit cheaper than sweaters from places like J.Crew or Madewell.
ReCashmere pricing
$100 Cashmere pricing
But if I can afford the extra costs for a product that uses recycled materials then I’m 100% going to support that product over one that uses virgin materials. Of course, purchasing something secondhand is even better but tbh I’m a little iffy about used sweaters since people so rarely clean them. Also used sweaters can get stretched out when I clean them. Anyway I found this post by Leah about recycled textiles quite informative if you want to know how sustainable Everlane’s “Re-” line really is is.