The cardigan that made me look like myself again.

On the Amanda — a vibrant multicolor striped knit that slips off in a second, hangs straight without flaring, and turns every blouse you already own into an outfit.

I am 63 years old, and getting dressed had quietly become a process of elimination. Everything in the closet was either too plain or too much trouble, and by the time I had ruled out the stiff things and the fussy things and the things that needed ironing, I was back in the same forgettable top I had worn the week before.

It wore on me more than I let on. I had started to feel a little invisible in my own clothes.

Then a woman in my church group here in Mount Pleasant kept turning up looking comfortable and quietly put-together at the same time. I finally asked her. She laughed and told me to read the Clarke family's letter first, so I am going to let their words carry it, because they say it better than I could.

1Off in a second, without leaving the room.

We designed the Amanda to solve the thing nobody names but everyone knows — the moment the room gets warm and there is nothing you can do about it without making a production of it. The Amanda has no buttons, no zipper, no collar to catch. You slip it off your shoulders and it is gone. The conversation goes on. Nobody notices.

2A color that lifts your face.

The Amanda is knit in a warm, cheerful mix of red, orange, yellow, teal, purple, pink, black, white and green — not garish, not costume-y, just alive. That palette sits close to the face and the neck, and what a good color does there is something no face cream ever quite manages: it gives you back a little warmth, a little brightness. People will say you look rested, and they will mean it.

3Two straight lines from shoulder to hem.

We cut the Amanda with enough room through the chest that the open front panels hang straight down instead of swinging apart and drawing the eye inward. Two clean vertical lines from shoulder to hip — that is what a good open cardigan does for the middle of the body. Not tight, not clingy, not wrapped. Just straight, and clean, and easy.

4Makes the rest of your closet wearable again.

The Amanda is long enough — hitting at the hip — that it covers exactly the part of the arm most of us would rather keep to ourselves. The sleeveless dress in the back of your closet, the blouse with the short cap sleeves, the summer top you never quite got around to returning — they all become wearable again the moment you put this over them. One piece, and half your wardrobe comes back.

5Nothing about it says cardigan in the old sense.

There is an image that comes with the word cardigan — a beige thing, a safe thing, something that signals you have given up. The Amanda is none of that. It is a chunky hand-knit stripe in a dozen colors, with a relaxed drape and ribbed cuffs that look intentional and considered. You are not reaching for a cardigan because it is practical. You are reaching for this one because you want to wear it.

6Goes over everything you already own.

Over the blouse, over the dress, over the plain white tee you wear on weekends. The Amanda does not need a particular outfit to work — it is the thing that makes the outfit. The stripe does the talking; underneath, anything goes.

The Amanda, against the cardigans you've been buying.

	The usual cardigan	The Amanda
Front	Flares open, pulls the eye in	Hangs straight, shoulder to hem
Color	Neutral, forgettable, safe	A warm, cheerful stripe that lifts the face
Arms	Bare underneath, or too hot	Full-length sleeves that cover completely
On/off	Buttons that take a moment	Open front — off in one second flat
Feeling	Sensible, settled, invisible	Like a deliberate, put-together choice

Why they're clearing it now

They priced the Amanda at $123.00 when it launched, and it sold at that price all season. But for America's 250th, the Clarke family wanted to give something back — so every cardigan is going out at well below half of what it was.

I ordered mine that evening. It arrived a few days later in a kraft-paper parcel, neatly folded in cream tissue with a little card from the family on top. I have reached for it more than anything else in my closet since.

I do not usually write things like this. But I spent too many mornings standing in front of the closet feeling like I had nothing that was actually mine — nothing that felt like a choice rather than a compromise. This one cardigan changed that. If you have been feeling a little invisible in your own clothes, I hope you find your size before it clears.

— Sandra Thompson · Mount Pleasant, SC

See the Amanda | Colorful Striped Knit Cardigan — $54.95 →

This is a personal account from a Clarke Family customer. Sandra was not paid to write it. · The Clarke Family · Family Fashion · 24/7 Customer Service · Free UPS shipping · Easy 30-Day Returns.