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Ask Angie: long cardigans over skirts and dresses

Inge (website)

I love the look and plan on sporting it a lot this Winter. I'm wondering though: are there any guidelines regarding the most flattering length?

I'm guessing it's a different length for (pencil) skirts and dresses? Does the cut of the cardigan play a role as well, i.e. different "rules" for boyfriend cardigans, cascading cardigans and cardigans with a rounded hem?

- I tried on one of my new cascading cardigans (length is the same in the front and the back) over a pencil skirt. It hit me just below my bottom and that seemed about the right length for this look.
Then I tried it over a sheath dress (hits me above knee) and that did not look right at all (the cardi ends about 5 inches above the back vent - it looked even stranger when I added leggings to the mix).

- Would you say that cardigans with a rounded hem look best with pants? Or could a skirt/dress work too, depending on the length of the cardi (mine seemed a bit long for this).
Example of cardi with rounded hem in case you don't know what I'm talking about:
http://www.shopbop.com/oversiz.....tid=affprg

- I feel like I will need an even longer cardigan to wear with knee-length dresses?

The latest reply was from hanna . You can follow further contributions to the conversation through the RSS 2.0 feed.


5 Replies

Posted 2 months ago
medusa

This would be a great topic for a blog post. I'm curious about the same thing.

Inge, what would you think of posting photos of some of your ensembles?

Posted 2 months ago
Inge (website)

I certainly will Medusa. I only got them yesterday (see my other post about cascading cardigans at H&M) and haven't had a chance yet to take pictures. Stay tuned;-)

Posted 2 months ago
Angie (website)

Good question, Inge. I have the green curved hem cardi you see in the picture. Remember this blog post?

http://youlookfab.com/2008/12/.....-cardigan/

I wear the same cascading cardigan over dresses and skirts – and pants! There are many variables at play with respect to the style of the cardigan AND it’s colour AND what you wear it with. I wish I could offer guidelines for you, but it’s more of a trial and error thing.

But longer will be more versatile for your height, Inge. But on someone petite, shorter is better. Does that make sense?

Posted 2 months ago
Inge (website)

Thanks for reposting that link for me Angie. Very informative rereading it.

As always, you are making perfect sense;-)
You're right of course, there are so many variables here that the only way to get it right, is to keep experimenting, which I will.
And I will post pictures of the specific cardigans/outfits soon.

Posted 2 months ago
hanna (website)

please do post pics, inge, because i'm super curious! i only have one cascading cardi myself. for some reason i can't reconcile it with my usual style. you can be my inspiration! :)

Posted 2 months ago