Cardigan Sweaters for Any Ages: Wearing Them Backwards
This entire week, I’m trying to see how versatile we can make our cardigan sweaters!! You may consider this feat insane or brilliant, or maybe a little of both! Today’s variation will see about wearing your sweater backwards? Why, you may ask?
Quote of the day: “The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.” Bruce Feirstein
Now if you know me at all, then you know I love to be creative and versatile with what we already have in our closets. And I figured that every woman has a cardigan sweater in her wardrobe, am I right? So why not wear it in a variety of ways? Kind of like the thought of how can your cardigan work for you?
I know, personally, I have many cardigan sweaters as I wore them quite a bit to work. I would, at times, consider them as an unstructured jacket. However, I used to only think to wear them as a topper over my shirts. Well, how boring is that? So we start by turning our sweaters backwards! Of course this can only work if you can button up your sweater. The trick, of course, is to button it first and then pull it over your head unless you have a handmaid (or me) helping you get dressed, LOL!
Jodie’s (50’s) Outfit: I don’t truly have the best reason for wearing my sweater backwards with this outfit. Well, except to be different, I guess!
The inspiration for pairing my sneakers with the midi skirt came from Samantha’s post here! I realize her flat shoes that she wore with her midi skirt are boots, but it gave me the idea to try this. It’s certainly not what I would normally wear, but I really like the outcome!
Here’s the view from the back! I know we don’t always concentrate on how the back view looks, but when we go out in public, there are just as many people that see us this way, too! The scarf I wore was used to cover up the label of the sweater. Since it also had the colors of the skirt and sweater, I figured it would be a good feature!
I have to admit, that I have worn a sweater backwards on the blog in the past—you can see it here! I can’t really remember why I did this at that time, except maybe to have an all grey look for the front of the outfit? Incidentally, the grey sweater in that older post, used to be my mother’s cardigan from college! Talk about a classic piece!
Skirt: Coverii (similar here)~~Cardigan: Simply Vera (similar here)~~Shoes: Guess (similar here)~~Scarf: (similar here in a tie dye version)~~Earrings: (similar here)~~Bracelet: (similar here)~~Hat:Brooklyn Hat Co (similar here)
Nancy’s (60’s) Outfit: Now for Nancy’s backwards sweater, I picked this skirt for a reason. My thought process was since the skirt had so much bling and pattern on the front, it could be better to keep the sweater more plain.
And since her sweater is short sleeved, we added another shirt under neath for warmth! We added a silver necklace to cover her label that shows in front! But look how cute the necklace is from the back–it even has flowers there!
Here’s a little closer shot of the back view. I’m not sure if you can tell, but the front (or back in today’s case) of Nancy’s cardigan has small beads and cables on it. She said it’s her favorite cardigan because either it was her mom’s or her mom had one just like it! (No laughing that she can’t exactly remember—when you’re old like us, it happens frequently!!)
We tried to tuck the cardigan under a little in the front so you could see more of the pattern on the skirt. It stayed for a couple minutes, but then it decided to have it’s own way! And aren’t the silver shoes fabulous? I have a feeling you’ll be seeing them a lot here on the blog!
Skirt: Desigual (similar here in one size only or here with stripes)~~Cardigan: Norton (similar here)~~Top: Casual Corner (similar here)~~Shoes: Chinese Laundry (similar here in a lace up or here in pumps)~~Necklace: (similar here)~~Earrings: (similar here)
Charlotte’s (70’s) Outfit: For mom’s backwards sweater version, we had her wear it under her tweed jacket! This could be useful if you need a shirt under a jacket, but don’t have the right colored one; however, instead have the perfect color cardigan. Wearing it backwards could be better to either cover your decolletage or keep it plain (instead of having the buttons show).
We used a brooch to cover the label on mom’s sweater. It almost looks like a necklace when it’s pinned right in the middle of a shirt this way. But the advantage is it doesn’t move around like a necklace!
We kept the earrings relatively simple by choosing her gold leaf pair. I thought they picked up the gold from the brooch nicely!
I had mom throw on her dark jeans and red ankle boots to finish off the outfit. These were her first pair of blue jeans that she bought after she had shingles 5 years ago and lost a bunch of weight!
Jeans: Bill Blass (similar here)~~Cardigan: Nine West-thrifted (similar here)~~Blazer: Liz Claiborne-thrifted (similar here with a black background or here with fringe)~~Boots: Nine West-thrifted (similar here)~~Brooch: (similar here in the shape of a ladybug)~~Earrings: (similar here)
I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to read my blog. Thanks again and feel free to comment with your thoughts!!
Nancy’s photography by Kari Strand Photography
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