Nicholas Daley Waffle Roll Neck- Chocolate

Waffle is a structure rather than a fabric, a grid of raised squares that traps a layer of air between the cloth and the skin. It is the reason thermal underwear has looked like this for a century and a half. Daley takes it out of the underlayer and builds a finished garment from it: a heavyweight cotton waffle with a rolled neck, raglan sleeves cut in one piece from collar to cuff so no seam crosses the shoulder, curved pockets set into the side seams, and cuffs run long with a thumbhole through them. Everything on it is borrowed from workwear or from sportswear and none of it is decorative. Knitted in Portugal.

Why we selected it

We carry the rollneck because a heavyweight cotton waffle is one of the few mid-layers that works alone, under a jacket, and under a coat without changing what it is. We took it in three colours because a piece worn this often gets bought more than once.

The colour

Chocolate is the reason to take this one. Brown knitwear is difficult to buy well, because most of it is either too orange or too dead, and a true chocolate is neither: it is a brown with enough depth to stand beside black without looking like a mistake and enough warmth to do something black cannot. On a waffle it works particularly hard, because the raised grid throws small shadows across the surface and a mid-brown shows them where a black would swallow them. It is also the colour that sits against the mohair checks, which is not something most knitwear browns can do.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent heavyweight cotton waffle, knitted in Portugal. Rolled neck, raglan sleeves, curved in-seam front pockets, elongated cuffs with thumbholes. Colour: Chocolate Brown.

Fit notes

Cut to go over a tee and under a jacket, with raglan sleeves giving unusual freedom across the shoulder. Heavyweight cotton relaxes through the body over the first several wearings and returns with washing. The cuffs are drafted long for the thumbhole.

Styling and care

Under the Stone Jacket, or with the Pleated Trouser in turmeric and navy, where the brown sits between the two colours in the check. With the Track Pant for the tonal version. Wash cool, inside out, and dry flat rather than hanging, because a heavy cotton knit grows on a hanger while it is wet. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Waffle Rollneck in black and in ecru is the same rolled neck in the same heavyweight waffle, knitted in Portugal. The Crew Neck Waffle in black is the crew neck, and the Track Pant the trouser in the same brown. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.