Cardigans have this reputation in the popular imagination of being a little dorky and square—the kind of thing Steve Urkel might wear, say, as he’s getting stuffed in a locker. But it’s difficult to understand exactly where exactly that cliché came from, given how many iconically cool folks have looked impossibly handsome in cardigans for decades upon decades now. We’re talking about movie stars like Steve McQueen and Donald Glover, musicians like Stevie Wonder and Kurt Cobain, athletes like Arnold Palmer and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
With layering season blissfully upon us again, we’re paying tribute to arguably the most versatile knit you can own—one that looks killer with a tee or polo in the spring, with shorts and a tank in the summer, and with all manner of coats and blazers and button-downs in the fall and winter. Here are 31 can’t-miss ways to style a cardigan right now.
