The Cardigan Quest

Everyone always says dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Yet my reaction to traditional “librarian” outfits is generally a resounding “hellz no.” Sure, I like pencil skirts, glasses, and librarian pumps, but for years and years I refused to go anywhere the clothing item that people automatically think of when it comes to librarian style. The cardigan.

I always avoided caridgans because I felt like they made me look like I was too old, or because I didn’t like the prints, but I realized about a year ago that my go to warm up item (the zip-up hoodie) wasn’t really working anymore. Not only did my hoodies scream “high school” but they also clashed with dresses, dress pants, and even dress jeans in most cases. Which meant that I could either look ridiculous by wearing a hoodie anyways or I could leave it at home and be cold. Clearly it was a chilly year.

So I decided that it was time to delve into the land of the cardigan. I was already a frequent visitor to the men’s sweater department, but forays to the women’s sweater aisle were always met with many mental “yucks” and “are there colours besides taupe here” and even “that pattern looks like the carpet in Wendy’s… and not in a good way.” But part of my shopping philosophy has always been to love the thrill of the hunt, so once again I took a hint from Barney Stinson and said “Challenge… ACCEPTED!”

The quest was tough (tougher than finding the perfect pair of jeans, surprisingly), and at the early stages I was discouraged. Racks full of beige & burgundy, useless crop-tops, and cat-decals seems to lay before me. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a print. A tri-toned print in a Missoni-inspired spiked-stripe patten. In bright turuoise, mauve, and bitter chocolate brown. I got some weird looks by the old ladies shopping around me, but I couldn’t contain my grin.

A new era had come, and the quest for the fantastic cardigan was complete. 

*cardigan by Bianca Nygard, jeans by Makers, tanktop by Banana Republic, vintage necklace, flower pin by Ardene