Anthropologie, your styling tricks will not fool me! Your cardigans are getting shorter and shorter and I am getting sadder and sadder. You see, I have breasts and they tend to look comical when placed into a cardi that is cropped. And so this post is devoted cardigans that can only be worn by me open and over dresses so they don’t look silly.
Plenty by Tracy Reese brings us the Bluebells Awaken Cardi ($158) and man does it have a lot going on. Flowers and lace and sheerness up top. It’s a lot to take in. I love the catalog version of the cardi but what I saw in-store was different. It had a much pinker base, which is OK but not quite as sharp as the pink/blue/white combo of the model shot.
I didn’t even kid myself with sizing. I grabbed the large immediately and hoped no gaps would appear. Luckily none did. I have the sleeves rolled up a bit. The length is decent, hitting me above high-hip. Fine with a dress but there would be a gap between pants and the hem of this piece. I love the blue in this cardi but I’m not sold on paying full price for it. Waiting for sale.
Field Flower!! Maker of my favorite cropped cardigan ever (I own that cardi on the cover and love it to death). This one is the Parted Petals Cardigan ($98 — thanks Jennifer and Anon!!). I tried on a large. The flowers feel felted and I like how the oversized proportion balances a larger chest well. This will look very cute open too.
I have the sleeves rolled up for comfort reasons. The base is beige and the flowers are mixes of blue. I think this would be a very versatile piece and I look forward to picking it up soon.
Hooray for Moth, makers of the longest cardigan of the lot. Their Four Petal Cardi ($88) has lots of potential but I feared the fit would not work for me. Luckily I was wrong. I love it when I’m wrong! My true size medium worked great here. The bowed bodice underneath caused some puckering on the cardigan but that’s easily fixed by doing a cami underneath instead.
I don’t love the exposed zipper on the cardigan but I do love the darling little bow, the mix of horizontal and vertical stripes that somehow works (!!!) and the green. I love me some green. This is another item high on the wishlist.
Lastly, this cute as a button cardi is the Clinging Blossoms Cardigan ($88) from Sparrow. It comes in navy with yellow flowers also (I have a pic up in the “Store Inspiration” album on my Facebook page). If you tried on the Falling Ribbon Cardi this cardigan fits exactly the same way. It’s also made from the same material. I took a large. Here’s the tag. Some good news — Sparrow learned from the torture device that was each button of the Falling Ribbon Cardi. The buttons on this cardi are considerably easier to undo.
The flowers are slightly raised appliques that trail around to the side. This cardigan is so short. I think even petites would find some gaps above jeans or pants with this one. Being 5’8″ I wouldn’t even risk it. Over a top or dress this would work fine. Waiting for sale.
Thanks for cardigan reviews! I wish I had bought the Field Flower cardigan you mentioned – it is adorable. I remember it, but don't think I tried it on – why not?!However, I did recently purchase the flower applique one you reviewed and it is very cute and also pretty versatile with its blues tones. I also love its softness. It was $98.
Is that the Blazing Rays dress you have on underneath? if so, I can't wait for a review because I think it's so cute!I hear you about short cardis, I have a long torso even though I'm only 5'2". But the four-petal cardi is really cute on you, I may have to check that out myself!
Ah, thanks for the price update Jennifer! I'll fix the post now.rachel – it is. 🙂 Review of the dress coming up tomorrow.
I tried on the Sparrow cardi (finally listed online this AM as the Clinging Blossoms Cardigan), and it was pretty darn cropped on me–and I'm only 5'3"! I had admired it on your Facebook page and was delighted to see it at my store yesterday. But it hit a good three inches above the top of my jeans. 🙁 Such a bummer because I think the navy and yellow version is beautiful!
Roxy, the Parted Petals Cardi by Field Flower is now available online.
Yay the blazing rays dress. I've been waiting for someone to review that, can't wait to see it. I love the four petal cardigan too.
The cardigans all look great on you…I especially like the Parted Petals and Four Petals :)So…I know this is not Anthro related, but I have to ask after randomly receiving an Urban Outfitters catalog in the mail the other day…what is the deal with this product shot?http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?itemdescription=true&itemCount=60&startValue=1&selectedProductColor=&sortby=&id=17756875What is this girl doing?? Looking for her chest or trying to pull up a bathing suit that looks too short on her? Such a strange picture…reminded me of the funny post you did on the girl in the Anthro catalog doing a sideways pushup 🙂
Ugh…it cut out the link…how about this:http://tiny.cc/z1hNS
Boo for cropped cardis! They make me feel ridiculous too. You don't look bad in a lot of these though, though maybe the dress underneath helps. And speaking of the dress, I too can't wait to see your Blazing Rays review 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend Roxy!!
Hey Roxy and others who have tried on the Parted Petals cardi:Is it TTS, runs small, etc? I have a large chest and my concern is if you had to try a L, Roxy, the XL may not work for me (since I am usually two sizes bigger than you). Also, just how cropped is it?Thanks!
Maureen M – I was happy to see it in-store. :)maureen – that photo, holy cow. Abercrombie-worthy.goldenmeans – the dress totally helped. I tried on one with pants first and was like oh no, this will never do.jacquelyn – hmm, tough call. My chest was somewhat smushed by the dress so that accounted for wanting the large. I can try a medium today and let you know how it goes. Length-wise, it's definitely short. A good 2-3 above your hips.
Ooooh, I so love the Parted Petals sweater – I'm plopping that one straight into my online cart!The Four Petal cardi looks fantastic on you – very flattering!I'm looking forward to the Blazing Rays review – the bottom looks great! What a nice drape to it! I'm mostly curious what you thought of the color IRL? I was hoping for a pinkish red, but the shot of the dress on the model makes it appear more brick red – and that just doesn't feel very Spring/Summerish to me…I spy a pretty nameless/not online dress in the fitting room with you too…
I gotta say, I am not loving the cardigans this time around… The Field Flower one is my favorite of the ones you just reviewed… on you… But I am pear shaped.My chest looks alright in a cropped cardigan, but it seems to only accentuate how much larger my bottom half is. I wish Anthro would stop with the crops!! 🙂
I completely agree with your opening line of having breasts and wearing crop cardigans are a no-no!I do love the Four Petal Cardi on you! I think I'm going to have to try it on when I make my next trip to antrho 🙂
thanks for the reviews. I thought the tracy reese cardi was cute, but after seeing it on you, i doubt it will work for me either. Have you seen the skirt it is featured with irl yet? i would love to see it reviewedthanksAlips meant no offence to you roxy, after reading it it sounded a little rude;)
Argh! I feel you on the cropped cardis. Having a biggish bust really limits tops I can wear.
roxy, thanks for the reviews. i tried on the clinging blossoms cardigan in stores the other day. i thought it was adorable on the hanger but it looked so short on me i looked like a linebacker! my broad shoulders and very modest chest was not helping the situation. i tried on a medium, my usual size, but i'm sure a large would have been better suited for me.i haven't seen the field flower (parted petals) cardi, but i'm eager to find it. it looks darling on you. though i have to say i'm pretty smitten with another cardigan, the blushing bouquet, i've never gotten a chance to try it on b/c i haven't seen it in my size in stores. ::sigh::
I love the four petal cardi on you. I bought it a while ago and though all the reviewers state it's thin, I love that it's lightweight for spring. I got the green. I think you should get it, it looks great on you!
I saw the Parted Petals Cardi in my store's display and had to have it immediately. I'm short and lost my boobs after having two kids. It's super cute and versatile. My only problem is that the stitching is not great and I had to swap mine for another (the one on display as they sold pretty quickly). I couldn't completely part with it.
jacquelyn – follow up: the medium was a no go for me. The snaps were gapping. I bought it, but in a large.Jan Russell – it's more of a pinky red in my opinion. Not too brick reddish. Ady – I completely agree! This spring and summer overall are not looking very promising, from the super short shorts to the sheer everything on top to cropped. It's bullshit. Goodbye mainstream fashion, hello indie designers actually making things I can wear.Thanks Nicole! I'm sure it will look lovely on you.ali – have not seen the skirt yet. No offense taken. :)Rosemary – It's annoying, I understand that not everything is going to fit me but to have sooooo many cropped options is off-putting.sklee – I have been hoping to see the Blushing Bouquet cardi too! Maybe I'm just missing it as CS says the NYC stores have it…must be under a table top or something.val – thank you! I agree that it's perfect weight for spring. Anonymous – interesting about the stitching. I just bought the cardi so I will have to inspect it closely for loose threads.
I personally love cropped cardigans, but I only wear them how they were designed to be worn (back in the 40s and 50s) – with higher waisted skirts and over dresses. I wear longer cardis with pants. I'm also short, so I need something more cropped to look proportional with skirts and dresses. That being said, I HATE that these tiny cardis are all close to or over $100. Many of them look too close to items I see at F21, or genuine vintage cardis you can ALWAYS find at a thrift store. I also totally agree that there are a LOT of them right now at Anthro and not much else. And, seriously what is with the sheerness of many of the shirts out right now? I'm not going to wear a cami under a tank top! Come on! (or pay between $50 and $100 for said see through tank top). Jeez.
Thanks Roxy!My husband left this weekend for a mountain biking race and when I came home he had left me a surprise: the Parted Petals Cardi! I think it fits alright but I'll need to do some more evaluating. I agree that it is cropped.