the cashmere sweater i've worn five times last week
in a post everlane-nadaam world, how do you distinguish good quality from DTC hype?
🕊️ Ceasefire Now in Gaza 🕊️
I strolled into the post office with two baggus full of cardboard boxes and crinkly mailers, one in each hand. Eager to get in and out as quickly as possible, I made a beeline to the dropoff counter and politely stacked my packages with the label facing up, making sure to say “prepaid dropoff!” loudly so the people in line wouldn’t think I was cutting.
As I turned to exit, a flash of red caught my eye. I saw this girl who looked like a Pinterest board IRL: she was wearing a simple red sweater with baggy jeans and Carel Kinas. Because Kinas are one of those “if you know you know” shoes, I sort of implicitly trusted her taste. This outfit captivated me because of its in-person wearability. One could easily picture wearing this to the post office, then to get fresh baguette and a coffee. The sweater was logo-less and perhaps through the glossy deception of screens I would have assumed it was something like Everlane or Nadaam, some kind of radicallytransparentethicalmongoliancashmeregradea knit. But in person you see things differently. The material looked thicker than cashmere, maybe even woolen? And the shoulder was slightly dropped, which I always like in tops. The crewneck ribbing also appeared substantial, like it would keep you warm in a foggy orchard.
It was a moment where my desire to know where this sweater was from trumped my social anxiety about approaching a stranger. Remember the time i found my dream black boots through a stranger at a cafe? This is like that.
So I complimented her outfit and asked her where she got the sweater. I prayed she wouldn’t say vintage.
