Cotton Knitwear

some people have problems with wool. some cotton knitwear can be pretty great.

I’m on the record as a big fan of wool, but some people have particular issues with it. Some vegans choose to avoid it, some people have allergies, and some individuals, including neurodivergent individuals, have unusual reactions to wool. Luckily for them, cotton knitwear exists! (as does linen-hemp and blends with silk and all sorts of things I’m not going to dig into)

And even if you, like me, love wool, cotton knitwear still has its own charm. A high-quality cotton knit beats a mediocre wool sweater, if you ask me.

For these purposes, I’m going to exclude things that are technically cotton knitwear: tee shirts, sweatshirts, cotton polos, and rugbies (normally made of a heavy cotton jersey). I’m going to focus on the types of sweaters I know you all want to see. This list contains affiliate links.

• J. Crew always has some solid cotton knits. Their roll necks, in particular are a classic.

• L.L. Bean makes great cotton knitwear, and again, I want to highlight their roll necks. Especially this one. They also do a really solid cotton Aran-style sweater.

• Quaker Marine also does cotton crew necks and… again, really good roll necks in a variety of colors. Why are cotton roll necks such a thing? I don’t know, but they are.

• Buck Mason has a few nice options. I particularly like the cotton rib crew necks. Texture is a good thing, and apparently these are also hand-linked… Oh, and I love these cotton-hemp crews, I bought one of these back in the day, crazy nice texture, dry to the hand but still flowy, open and breathable… I can wear it in the high 70s and be fine. Remember, hemp and linen are pretty much the same, hemp is just stronger.

• Warren makes these cotton knits in the USA. They call them sweatshirt-sweaters, but they’re really not like sweatshirts at all, besides that little v notch. Very unique texture. Slouchy drape. The hem and cuffs have a purl knit with no stretch to it, which makes the cuffs easy to roll. And if you hate the feeling of typical sweater cuffs on your wrists, here you go, none of that.

• Tennis sweaters / Cricket sweaters (same thing) are equally classic in wool or cotton.

  • Here’s a nice cotton one from Ralph Lauren. Here’s another, on sale, but I like the first one more. Here’s a 65-35 cotton-linen option with a crest embroiderd on the front… sometimes they do these blends without the crest, if you wanna wait and see…

  • Brooks Brothers is probably the brand I associate the most with this style. New or vintage.

  • Oh, O’Connells makes them in cotton too. O’Connells is as good as their website is bad.

• If you prefer finer/flatter knits, Sunspel does some in Sea Island Cotton. Faaaancy. Note that they also do cotton-cashmere blends, mostly cotton but some cashmere in there, in case that’s a dealbreaker for you.

• Anderson & Sheppard makes both cotton and linen knitwear. If you think cheap cashmere is a luxury product, you haven’t met this.