Margaret Howell Short Classic Crew Neck

A cashmere and cotton blend is usually a compromise and occasionally a good idea, and the difference is the proportion. At a slight majority of cashmere the knit keeps the softness and the warmth that are the only reasons to want cashmere, and the cotton does two things cashmere cannot: it gives the yarn some tensile strength, so the knit holds its shape at the cuff and the hem instead of growing, and it drops the warmth into a range you can wear indoors in October and outdoors in April. Knitted midweight and cut short, so it finishes at the waistband rather than below it, which is what lets it sit over a shirt without swallowing it. Made in England, which for a knit is a real fact about who made it rather than a decoration on the label.

Full cashmere is worn six weeks a year by most people who own it. This is the version that gets worn from September to May.

Fifty-five percent cashmere and forty-five percent cotton, made in England. Midweight knit, crew neck, cropped body. Color: Assam.

Cropped, so it sits at or just above the waistband, and it is worth seeing that proportion against your own trousers. Numeric sizing. The cotton in the yarn means it recovers rather than growing at the elbow, which is the usual failure of a pure cashmere in the same weight.

Over the Bib Front Shirt with the collar and the hem of the shirt showing at both ends, which is what the crop is for. Under the Flap Pocket Blazer. With the flannel trousers if you want the proportion to read deliberately.

Treat it as cashmere rather than as cotton, because the cashmere is the half that will felt: cool water, no agitation, dry flat, and fold rather than hang. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

The Seamless Crew is merino knitted at the same midweight, and the Knitted Sweatshirt is plied merino cut boxy. There is more on the house on the Margaret Howell designer page. Everything we carry from Margaret Howell is listed together.