Cozy And Conscious: Life With A 3D-Knit Sweater

Exploring every knot of sustainability.

A Guide To The All-Season Sweater And Sustainable Style

This is the 2nd blog in a 3-part series on a simple idea: a sustainable life begins with high-quality knitwear that actually lasts.

It can be hard to find clothing that checks all the boxes:

✔ Doesn’t show too much wear.
✔ Versatile in your closet.
✔ Makes you feel good wearing it.
✔ Made from natural materials.

In this blog, I’ll explore everything you need to know about sustainable style, starting with a sustainable sweater.

• 7 Day Sweater Challenge
• Cozy and Conscious
• Outfit Repeating Benefits

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I’m no stranger to the hunt for the perfect sweater. I even learned to knit so I could make my own instead of wandering through stores for the “right one”. But Oliver Charles has swept me off my feet, and I’m afraid there’s no going back now.

Fast Fashion Relies on Cheap, Polluting Plastic Fibers

I’ve always struggled with buying knitwear. The difficulty lies in the current state of fashion: fast, unsustainable, and not made to last. It seems that every time I find a sweater I like, after wearing it a couple of times, I no longer find it appealing.

Fast fashion companies stock their shelves with synthetic fiber knits that draw buyers in with their trendy designs. By the following season, the style is out, the sweater is either shrunk or stretched, and off it goes to the second-hand store for another victim to buy, at least this time second-hand.

The crux of this problem is how we view fashion itself. Buying clothes used to be a coveted event, and we spent a lot of money on clothing because it was meant to be worn until it fell apart. Then it would be repaired and worn some more. It was common to spend hundreds of dollars on a single piece.

But we’ve fallen away from that, instead relying on affordable, lower-quality options. The argument for today is that it’s too expensive to spend hundreds of dollars on one piece of clothing. However, if we change our mindset to buying one nice piece every once in a while, rather than ten low-quality pieces every month or two, in the long run, we’d all end up saving money.

Unfortunately, many people don’t see it this way and want to indulge in the fast fashion and instant gratification industry. I get it, I fall victim to it as well. It’s hard not to.

However, as more people become aware of waste in the fashion industry, the tides will begin to shift. 

So, if you’re on board for all of the above, let’s dive into how you can find the perfect sweater. First, we want to examine the material, avoiding any non-natural fibers, such as polyester.

Non-natural fibers are, firstly, bad for the planet, and secondly, not going to last. Materials like yak wool or merino wool won’t show wear as quickly and are meant to be hardy, just as they were on the animal from which they were sheared.

They’re also much more comfortable and, frankly, meant for the hardships of life– sweat, smells, spills, all of it.

A Quality Sweater Works for Any Season By Layering

Now that we know what material we’re looking for, we can start to pair it with outfits for maximum wear.

What’s great about the All-Season Sweater is that it’s exceptionally versatile. It’s thin and perfect for layering in the winter, yet still warm enough to keep me warm in the harsh Chicago weather.

I’ve also found it to be a great piece in the summer as well. The weather here fluctuates, and rather than reaching for an old sweatshirt, I’ve started reaching for my All-Season Sweater instead.

It’s perfect on a cool night out to dinner, or even at the beach when the wind is blowing relentlessly.

Owning Quality Wool Means Less Washing, More Wear

Caring for your sweater is the key to making it last a long time.

Firstly, wool, specifically yak wool, is odor-resistant, so even if you sweat or wear it for a night by the fire, you may not need to wash it just yet. Just because it’s been worn doesn’t mean it’s dirty.

Yak wool is antimicrobial, so you don’t need to worry about bacteria hanging out on your sweater, which are the cause of odor. That’s a benefit you won’t find in a polyester sweater.

When the time comes, the All-Season Sweater is machine washable. This has decreased my chore load, simplified my daily mental load, and made getting dressed each morning so much easier.

It turns out wool's benefits extend far beyond keeping you warm while you’re trekking through an icy snowscape. My laundry routine is just one of the benefits I’ve seen from the lifestyle change.

A Single Versatile Sweater Can Kickstart Your Capsule

With fall around the corner, now is the perfect time to start looking for your “perfect sweater.”

Once you get the right one, you’ll find yourself pairing it with as many outfits as possible, and it will become a piece of your capsule wardrobe, which I will discuss in my next blog!

Changing your perspective on fashion is challenging, especially when the norm nowadays is to buy, buy, buy. But just one great piece can trigger that change you need to unlock your sustainable fashion potential.

If you believe that every good wardrobe starts with owning less and owning better, consider buying yourself an OLIVER CHARLES sweater.