3Sixteen Cotton Collared Cardigan

A raglan sleeve runs in one piece from the underarm to the neckline, which means there is no shoulder seam and no armhole cut into the body. That is worth understanding, because it changes who a garment fits. A set-in sleeve fixes the shoulder point at a particular distance from the neck, and if your shoulder is not there the jacket is wrong. A raglan has no point to be wrong about: the seam runs diagonally, the cloth drapes over whatever is underneath it, and the garment accommodates a wide range of frames without alteration. On a cardigan, which is a garment you put on over things, that is exactly the right structure.

The collar is the other decision. A collared cardigan sits somewhere between knitwear and a shirt jacket: it closes at the neck like outerwear rather than falling open like a V, so it can be the outermost layer on a mild day without looking underdressed for the job. The yarn is Pima, long in the staple and knitted in Peru, so it is smooth, low-pilling, and takes a dye with depth rather than brightness. Rust is the proof of that. It is a mid brown with red in it, warm enough to be a colour and dull enough to be a neutral, and it does not go orange the way most attempts at this shade do.

Why we selected it

Cotton knitwear is where most houses cut corners, because cotton is cheap and a bad cotton knit looks acceptable on a hanger and dies in a season. This is the opposite: a proper Peruvian Pima, knitted rather than cut from jersey, with corozo buttons and a collar that holds. It is also the piece from this house that does the most work in a wardrobe that is not a workwear wardrobe.

3Sixteen’s knitwear is made in Peru and sits deliberately apart from its denim and workwear, and the cardigan is the most finished garment in that part of the line.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent Pima cotton, knitted in Peru. Raglan sleeves, collar, and corozo nut fisheye buttons. Rust.

Fit notes

A knit, so it moves with the body and reads softer than a woven of the same nominal size, and the raglan sleeve means the shoulder is forgiving rather than fixed. It goes over a tee or a knit polo comfortably and under an unstructured jacket without bulk at the shoulder, which is the raglan doing its job. Cotton knits relax across a wearing and come back with washing. Take your usual size.

Styling

Over the black Pima tee with raw denim, which is the plain version. With the Service Pant in Steel, rust against grey, which is the best thing to do with this colour. Under the French Work Jacket when it turns. Rust and indigo is an old pairing and still the correct one.

Care

Wash cool and dry flat, never on a hanger, because a knitted collar and a buttoned front will both distort under their own weight while damp. Fold it. Our care guidance covers cotton.

Related pieces

From the same knitting in Peru, the Knit Polo and the Long Sleeve Knit Polo in Brown. In alpaca rather than cotton, the Alpaca Crewneck Sweater in Oak. It sits well over the Service Pant. Everything we currently hold from 3Sixteen is listed together.