A letter from a reader Barbara S
All that room has to end somewhere.
On the sweater whose deep ribbed hem gathers the width in — so it blouses softly instead of hanging straight past your hip.
I am 63, and I buy oversized sweaters on purpose. I want the room. I am not trying to be shown anything and I would like to be able to eat lunch.
The trouble is what happens at the bottom of them. All that width goes straight down and simply stops, in one flat line across the widest part of me. The sweater has not done anything wrong exactly — it just ends there, like a curtain, and you can see it in a window on the way past.
It was my daughter Sarah, up in Boston, who said the question was never how much room it has, it is where the room finishes, and pointed me at 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 Barbara, 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 hem is narrower than the sweater
We knitted the ribbed band at the bottom smaller than the body above it. So all the width has to gather in as it reaches the hem, and instead of hanging straight past your hip it blouses softly and comes to rest. The room is all still there — it simply ends in a gather rather than in a straight line drawn across you. That is one decision, and it is the whole shape of the garment.
2The cuffs do the same at the wrist
Deep ribbed bands at both wrists, doing exactly the job the hem does. The sleeve is cut full the whole way down and then pulls in, so there is room at the elbow and nothing loose flapping over your hands. It also means the sleeves stay pushed up when you push them up, which is not something a wide plain cuff has ever managed.
3A pebbled stitch, not a flat one
The body is worked in a moss stitch — small raised bumps rather than the flat face most sweaters have. Two things come from that. A flat knit is a smooth plane, and a smooth plane shows every single thing underneath it; a bumpy one does not. And a solid color needs something to do, or it goes dull the moment the light is anything less than good.
4A short collar, not a turtleneck
The neck is a short ribbed band folded over once. It stands, it covers the base of your throat, and it stops there. A full turtleneck doubles that height and then sits against your neck for the rest of the day, which is the single most common reason a warm sweater ends up back in the drawer. This one gives you the coverage without the closing-in.
5Held at four points, free everywhere else
Look at where the ribbing is: the collar, the two cuffs, the hem. Four bands, and between them the sweater is not fastened, shaped or fitted anywhere at all. It is held at the edges and completely free in the middle — which is why it moves when you move and why there is no point on your body where it is doing anything to you.
6Six colors, and a size for you — S to 3XL
The Barbara comes in six colors and the one you see me wearing is the green, which is the one the texture shows up best in. There are darker and softer ones in the range besides. Sizes run S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3XL. It is cut very generously and the ribbing does the holding, so take your usual size — going up will only give you more to gather.
The Barbara, against the oversized sweaters you own
| The usual oversized sweater | The Barbara | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the width ends | A flat line across your widest point | Gathered into a narrower ribbed band |
| The sleeves | Wide all the way to the hand | Full to the elbow, closed at the wrist |
| The surface | Flat, and it shows what is underneath | Pebbled, so nothing reads through |
| The neck | A turtleneck you pull at all day | A short band that covers and stops |
| How it is held | Nowhere — it simply hangs | At the collar, cuffs and hem, and nowhere else |
- The width ends in a flat line across you
- Sleeves wide all the way to the hand
- A flat surface that shows what's underneath
- A turtleneck you pull at all day
- Held nowhere — it simply hangs
- Gathered into a narrower ribbed band
- Full to the elbow, closed at the wrist
- A pebbled stitch, so nothing reads through
- A short collar that covers and stops
- Held at the edges, free in between
Why they're clearing it now
They priced the Barbara at $139.95 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 one is going out at well below half of what it was.
Mine arrived a few days later in a box on the bed. I held it up by the hem first, which is not where anybody normally starts.
The Barbara Sweater
- A ribbed hem knitted narrower than the body, so the width gathers in
- Deep ribbed cuffs doing the same at the wrist
- A pebbled moss stitch — nothing reads through it, and it never looks flat
- A short folded collar that covers without closing you in
- Held at the edges, free everywhere between · 6 colors · sizes S–3XL
The Barbara 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 have bought oversized sweaters for years for exactly the right reasons and been vaguely disappointed by all of them, and it turns out I was never looking at the part that was going wrong. If yours end in a straight line across you too, I hope you find your size before it clears.
— Margaret Ellison · Mount Pleasant, SC
See the Barbara — $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.