Sweaters can last for decades if the fabric used to make it is high-quality, like the 40-year-old woollen sweater on the left. Photo / Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post
Sweaters can last for decades if the fabric used to make it is high-quality, like the 40-year-old woollen sweater on the left. Photo / Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post
The average sweater ain’t what it used to be. Here’s how to find one that won’t fall apart, whether you’re shopping new or vintage.
Does your winter sweater look like the one on the left or right?
The one on the left has been worn by two generations for four decades, and its tightly knit wool fibres are still in good shape. The other one, made of polyester and spandex and bought for cheap from a department store in December, is already pilling after one wear.
Lower-quality modern sweaters made with plastic fibres and flimsy knits have a tendency to pill or pull apart after a few wears and washes, fashion experts say. But if you’re wearing a sweater handed down from your grandparents (or plucked from a thrift shop shelf), it may last for years to come, thanks to higher-quality materials and craftsmanship.
This generational divide in sweaters has sparked debate and dismay online, where commenters have longed for a return to an era of better sweaters. But experts say it’s not as if every sweater made today is bad – it’s just there are many more junky options to pick through to find something good.
“There is a really broad spectrum of quality available to consumers today, and there was in the 80s, too,” said Serena Dyer, an associate professor of fashion history at De Montfort University in Britain. “The main difference is the proliferation of fast fashion brands that dominate many people’s wardrobes today.”
Originally from the 1980s, this large-size sweater was passed down from grandfather to granddaughter. Its tightly knit weave – made from an even blend of cotton and a linen-like fabric called ramie – has held its shape without much pilling for decades. Photo / Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post
Aside from looking worse and needing to be replaced more often, flimsy sweaters also contribute to fashion waste, rotting in landfills, polluting the environment with microplastics and fuelling climate change.
Here’s why sweater quality seems to have frayed over the years – and how you can shop for a new or vintage sweater that could stay in your family for generations.
Two big trends have led to the explosion of bad sweaters on store shelves and online listings today: the rise of synthetic fibres and fast fashion.
Most modern sweaters are made with at least some synthetic materials – especially acrylic fibers, which are thin strands of plastic that are cheaper to produce than cotton or wool. Others, like elastane, Spandex or Lycra, give clothes a little extra stretch that natural fibers lack.
Synthetic fibers are not necessarily bad, said Derek Guy, who writes the Die, Workwear! blog and runs a popular men’s fashion account on Twitter. But, he said, the amount of synthetic materials in sweaters has exploded, even in higher-end brands.
“Fifteen years ago, you would not see blended yarns for knitwear, at least on the menswear side,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal for a sweater to have 2% elastane, but now sometimes you’ll see something like 30% elastane or acrylic.”
Synthetic fibers are more prone to pilling, which is when threads fray and form balls of fluff on the surface of a fabric. They also tend to do a worse job of holding heat and moisture, shed microplastics that wind up everywhere from the oceans to our brains, and tend to give clothes a shiny, fake appearance.
This sweater's 95% cotton and 5% cashmere weave is already starting to lose its shape, especially around the ribbing at the bottom. Photo / Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post
Meanwhile, manufacturers started catering to “fast fashion” by pumping out cheap, flimsy clothes to keep up with ever-changing trends. Some luxury brands have become caught up in the race to the bottom as well, cutting costs to compete with cheaper brands. All of this “has led to a consumer culture of ‘single use’ fashion, where the ability to take a photo for social media and then dispose of the garment has become more important than acquiring staples that will be worn for years”, Dyer said.
To cut costs, some cheap sweaters today are made with less yarn: The fabric is thinner and the knit is looser, so it takes less material to make a full garment. But the trade-off is they’re more threadbare and wear out sooner.
How to find a good sweater
There are still quality sweaters on sale today, but you have to be a savvier shopper to find them.
A couple of decades ago, someone who didn’t know much about fashion could go to the mall “and just know that semi-fancy people shop at Banana Republic or J. Crew, so you [would] go to those stores … and come home with a sweater [that was] fine”, Guy said.
“You have to do a little bit more research. You have to know a little about niche clothiers. You have to know about the difference between Shetland and cashmere,” he said, adding, “The market has become more confusing to that low-information consumer.”
This wool sweater was made in Norway in the 1980s, and after many wears, it has become soft. Photo / Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post
Here are some tips to find a sweater that will last. You should use them to scrutinise sweaters, whether they’re new or vintage.
“Thrift stores will also contain some dreadful poor-quality sweaters that have simply survived because they were never worn,” Dyer said.
Look at the label. To find a solid sweater – new or used – see what it’s made of. Natural fibers are a good start. It’s not a big deal if a sweater has a low percentage of synthetic material, but once the number rises into the double digits, you should be sceptical, Guy said.
Think about your budget. If you have $500 to spend, you can get a really good cashmere sweater. But if you buy bargain cashmere for $70, you may get a shoddy sweater. Guy said you’d be better off spending that money on a well-made version of a less expensive fabric, such as Shetland or Merino wool, which come from specially bred sheep.
Check the stretch. Once you have a material in mind, you should try to gauge how tightly knit a sweater is. A loosely knit sweater is more likely to stretch out of shape over time. If you’re shopping in a store, you can pick a sweater up, feel the fabric and see how easily it stretches. “If there’s so much slack, maybe think twice,” Guy said.
Don’t just go for the softest sweater. “I’d encourage people not to associate softness with quality,” Guy said. Manufacturers make new sweaters soft by washing them over and over again to break them in, which gives them a smoother texture but a shorter life. Buying pre-softened sweaters is like buying pre-distressed jeans – you won’t get as many wears out of them as you would if you broke them in yourself.
Finally, remember you still need to take care of a good sweater. When you buy a vintage sweater, you should wash it to kill any moth eggs that might be lurking on the fabric, waiting to chew through your closet. Whether your sweater is used or new, you may have to hand-wash or dry-clean it. Over time, you may have to use a fabric shaver to remove pilling or mend small holes that appear in the elbows.
“Quality doesn’t necessarily mean that a garment will last forever without care and maintenance,” Dyer said.
