This Weird, Semi-Obvious Closet Swap Will Turn All Your Clothes Into Perfect Fall Outfits (With Many Photo Examples To Prove It)
Image from Quince
by The Candidly Team
It all started with a sweater. This sweater:
Sure, it’s 100% Mongolian cashmere. Magically soft. And it fits as if chicness itself could give you a hug.
Oh, and it’s only $80 as opposed to the $380 most cashmere costs these days.
But this article isn’t just about THIS sweater. It’s about what we can do when we find such a sweater.
Because once we hit September, we all want to start dressing luxuriously cozy - to look put together but to feel like we could slip into bed. And we want to achieve this with almost zero time and effort.
And that’s what a divinely good sweater can do. It creates an outfit. See how the above look is literally just black pants (mind you the best pair of black pants we’ve ever owned) and sneakers?
Once we have our best-fitting pants and our chic fall shoes, it’s on us to pick out a top that makes us look styled without feeling restricted or self-conscious or boring or whatever unflattering adjective our not-so-great shirts make us feel.
But with a perfect sweater we wear as a top, it’s a different story.
So that’s it, ladies and gentlemen. Get yourself a few incredible (bonus if they’re tuckable) sweaters that work as a shirt and poof, all your pants and jeans and staple skirts are suddenly exciting, high-end, sophisticated “looks.” And you still feel like you. Effortless. Cozy. Unfussed.
And to make all this that much easier, we sourced 11 sweaters that will change your sartorial life.
So let’s get to them.
1. The The One We're Styling With Every Single Thing For Immediate, Effortless Chicness
Quince Mongolian Cashmere Boatneck Sweater
Naturally, we begin with the gorgeous sweater mentioned above. The softness is on a whole other level - like swaddling yourself in your favorite throw. But the cut is very fashion(y) - should be a word - and takes everything you wear it with to new heights.
Here’s another way one of us styled it recently:
Dipping off the shoulder, slouchily tucked. It’s so easy but sooooo effective. And, as expected, it comes in too many colors we want.
Price: $80
2. The Easy Everyday V-Neck
Quince Mongolian Cashmere V-Neck Sweater
We can only assume you’d want to see more from the brand making beautiful cashmere creations at a price that sparks joy. And this kind of sweater is pretty much all we want to wear as a top on cool days because it makes us look luxe and put together with essentially any pair of pants or jeans. Of course, the coziness is off the charts. And it’s $50. For cashmere. We remain floored.
Complete digression here, but the above jeans happen to be from the same brand. The stretch and fit are incredible and they’re also $50. Highly recommend.
Price: $50
3. The Perfect-Fitting Crewneck We Require In Every Color
J.Crew Cashmere Shrunken Crewneck Sweater
This is the part where we bore you by telling you how much fit matters when it comes to feeling our most confident in clothes. But this sweater is ALL about fit. See how the waist goes in but the elastic is long and wide? Well that does wonders for making our waists look nipped. And it hits at the most flattering spot right at the top of our pants, so for those of us who don’t like to fuss over a tuck, this is the dream sweater.
And speaking of fit, here it is with our favorite-fitting cropped pants:
Sizes up to 3X and comes in every color you could want.
Price: $118
4. The Oversized Cashmere Cardi That Isn’t Frumpy
Quince Mongolian Cashmere Fisherman Cropped Cardigan Sweater
We could show you some $500 cashmere cocooning cardi from some other brand, but what’s the point? The perfect, classic (though admittedly a wee bit trendy), oversized cashmere cardigan is, once again, from Quince. We wrote an entire article about the longer version of this sweater HERE. But it now comes in cropped, which is actually the perfect not-too-long and not-too-short length.
Take a look on two different non-model models. Buttoned and unbuttoned:
But since we’re all in for wearing it as a top, here it is easily tucked:
See? Effortless.
Price: $120
5. The Cool Girl Sweater That Makes Our Legs Look Longer In Jeans
Free People Easy Street Patterned Crop
You ever look in the mirror and think “huh, why do I look cooler and younger and not unlike Cindy Mancini from Can’t Buy Me Love (IYKYK)? Well, if you’re wearing this sweater, the answer is THIS sweater. It’s casual and cool and one of those shapes that makes you feel delightfully covered up while also making you look narrower.
So cute with jeans and fall boots:
Again, we digress but the above boots are the best fall boots that match everything, and the brand gave us a totally unsponsored code to give to you for 20% off (CANDIDLY20). Just in case you’re in the market for a beautiful ankle boot to pair with all these sweaters.
Price: $98
6. The Blousy One That's Stunning On Arms
Quince Lightweight Cotton Cashmere Link-Stitch Dolman Sweater
This one is especially amazing for apple shapes or those of us who aren’t in love with showing our arms. Picture it over a silky slip skirt for parties or with any jeans or pants for everyday. The fit is stunning, but it just feels like a baggy tee (well, apart from it being a soft, cashmere cotton blend you feel about ready to nap in).
Price: $40
7. The Striped Cardi That's The Instant Rice Of Sophistication
NVLT Striped Sweater Lady Jacket
On its own, a stripe makes clothes look chicer, more expensive, and more French. But the clean cut of this sweater is like sorcery. We wear it with long, baggy jeans and white sneaks and never get so many compliments on our outfit. The navy stripe is a classic staple we’ll wear forever, but we keep checking back for the red, because it’s always sold out in our size :(
Price: $118
8. The $50 Cashmere Staple
Quince Mongolian Cashmere Crewneck Sweater
Naturally we had to include the crewneck version of the famous $50 Quince cashmere sweater. We currently have it in our cart in 4 colors. Help!
Price: $50
9. The One That Gives Us a Gorgeous Hourglass
Modern Citizen Eames Cotton-Wool Button Cardigan
We admit, there is often a waitlist or pre-order for many colors and sizes of this sweater, but we had to include it because it is the stuff of dreams in terms of fit. Yes, it reminds of THIS most iconic, celebrity sweater moment of all time, but it’s also just so flattering on a real human body. It’s the kind of timeless piece we can see ourselves turning to forever to look elegant. It comes in every neutral color you could lust after and sizes up to 1X.
Price: $168
10. The Undyingly Chic Turtleneck
The Lennon Wide-Sleeve Turtleneck Sweater by Pilcro
Come October, we all need that cocooning turtleneck that creates an outfit all by itself. And yet, the perfect-fitting one has been so hard for us to find. Until now. The drop shoulder and length look unbelievably good on arms and waists. Sizes in plus and petite and comes in all the pretty colors.
Price: $98
11. The Quiet Luxury Polo Sweater
Lilysilk Gilly Striped Sweater
Ugh, we can practically feel the satisfaction of having the sleeves cup over our hands just looking at this sweater. It’s one of those pieces we can just throw on over leggings on days we feel like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and know we look completely chic and elevated. The stripes and neckline do a lot of the work in terms of making us look “styled” when we feel like slobs, but it’s also a very luxurious fit. Plus, the smooth merino wool is so cozy. Just wins all around.
Price: $129
12. The Neckline That Adds Drama To Our Coziness
Splendid x @Cellajaneblog Cowl Neck Sweater
This sweater is made from a cotton blended with a hint of cashmere, so the softness is surreal as you might have come to expect from Splendid, which is known for making the buttery clothes we never want to take off. So when you’re wearing it, you pretty much forget the stunning and dramatic cut that makes you look like you spent $500 when you didn’t even spend $100.
Not to mention, you can use the code CANDIDLY20 to get 20% off.
Price: $98
Bonus: The “Nobody Wants This” Sweater You Might Really Want
This is solely for the few of us who went wide-eyed over Kristen Bell's cut-out top and baggy jeans ensemble from Nobody Wants This. We actually loved so many of her outfits from the show that we recreated 12 of them HERE.
We admit this particular one was a bit more daring and not for everyone (hence us putting it in the bonus section). Take a look.
Image from Netflix
Now the buttons on the version we found from Sézane leave much narrower openings than Kristen’s, and it sizes up to XXXL, which makes this sweater is a lot more wearable in real life. And with long, wide-leg jeans, we think it hits the perfect sexy-to-comfy ratio.
Price: $125
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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