A letter from a reader Antonine
A V-neck I do not spend the whole day pulling up.
On the sweater whose folded collar gives you the V without the depth — so there is nothing to fill in underneath and nothing to keep adjusting.
I am 63, and a V-neck suits me better than anything else I own. It lengthens the neck, it draws the eye up towards the face, and it stops a sweater sitting on you like a box. Every piece of advice I have ever read says so, and every piece of advice is right.
The trouble is that almost every V-neck made is cut two inches deeper than I want it, so I wear a camisole underneath and spend the day quietly tugging the front upward anyway.
It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who told me to stop settling and look at a sweater from a small family boutique here in South Carolina. Before I tell you what it did, I think you should read the Clarke family's letter first.
The Clarke family runs a small boutique here in South Carolina, family-run since 1986 — three generations, mother to daughter. The sweater is called the Antonine, and their letter walks through the handful of things they refused to compromise on. I am going to let their words carry it, because they say it better than I could.
1The collar gives you the V without the depth
Instead of cutting a plain V and leaving it open, we knitted a wide shawl collar and folded it back on itself. The two folded edges make the V shape — the long diagonal line up towards your face — while the collar itself fills in behind it. You get the line every woman is told suits her, without the neckline that comes attached to it.
2Fine enough to wear under a coat
Knitted in a fine, smooth yarn rather than a chunky one, so it is warm without adding width and it slides under a coat without bunching at the shoulder. A heavy knit makes the decision for you every morning. This one does not — it works on its own indoors and disappears under everything else.
3High at the back, open at the front
The same collar that opens at the chest stands up behind the neck, which is where the cold actually reaches you. That is the part a plain V-neck gets wrong twice over — open at the front and low at the back. Covered where you want covering, open where you want the line. One piece of knitting doing both.
4Ribbed at the cuffs and the hem
A fine knit is lovely to wear and the first thing to lose its shape, so both ends are finished with a proper rib. The cuffs hold at the wrist instead of hanging open after a season, and the hem sits where you put it rather than riding up over the hip. It is what keeps a soft sweater from turning into a shapeless one.
5Cut easy, so it skims rather than fits
The body is cut with room in it and falls to the hip without gripping anywhere. There is no shaping at the waist to draw a line across you and nothing that needs tucking in. It is a sweater you put on and then stop thinking about, which for a fine knit is harder to achieve than it sounds.
6Seven colors, and a size for you — S to 4XL
The Antonine comes in seven colors, and the one you see me wearing is the cream. There is a soft pink, a deep red and a green besides, and a navy for anyone who wants it to disappear into the rest of the closet. Sizes run S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL and 4XL. If you are between sizes, take the smaller one — it is cut easy already.
The Antonine, against the V-necks you've been buying
| The usual V-neck | The Antonine | |
|---|---|---|
| How deep it goes | Two inches lower than you want | The V line, with the collar filling it in |
| Underneath it | A camisole, every time | Nothing at all |
| The back of the neck | Low, so the cold gets in | A collar standing up behind you |
| The knit | Chunky, and it adds width | Fine and smooth, warm without bulk |
| Through the day | Tugging the front up again | You put it on and forget it |
- Two inches lower than you want
- A camisole underneath, every time
- Low at the back, so the cold gets in
- Chunky, and it adds width
- Tugging the front up all day
- The V line, with the collar filling it in
- Nothing needed underneath
- A collar standing up behind the neck
- Fine and smooth, warm without bulk
- Put it on and forget it
Why they're clearing it now
They priced the Antonine at $199.95 when it launched, and it sold at that price all season. But for America's 250th, the Clarke family wanted to give something back to the women who have kept their doors open since 1986 — so every sweater is going out at less than a third of that.
Mine arrived a few days later in a box on the bed. I held it up by the shoulders to see how the collar sat before I put it on, which tells you where my doubts were.
The Antonine Sweater
- A folded shawl collar that makes the V and fills it in
- Stands up behind the neck, open at the front
- Fine smooth knit — warm without adding width, fits under a coat
- Ribbed cuffs and hem that hold their shape · cut easy, nothing to tuck
- 7 colors · sizes S–4XL · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
The Antonine Sweater · $59.95 while sizes last
Buy 2 get 10%, buy 3 get 15%, buy 4 get an extra 20% off. When it's gone, it's gone.
I do not usually write things like this. But I had accepted for years that the neckline that suits me best came with a permanent small adjustment attached to it, and somebody has simply gone and solved that. If you own a drawer of camisoles bought for exactly this reason, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC
See the Antonine — $59.95 →This is a personal account from a Clarke Family customer. Margaret was not paid to write it. · The Clarke Family · Family Fashion · South Carolina, since 1986 · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.