Don’t Bother With Cotton Sweaters

The weather has turned the familiar corner from “harsh early spring” to “actually feeling like spring”. Every year when this happens, I (like many of you) look forward to the accompanying wardrobe shifts. Away go the heavy coats and boots and out come the light jackets and loafers. As much as I love the styles of winter, I am just as eager to start wearing warmer-weather attire.

One of the things that many men tend to wear more of in the spring is the cotton sweater. It makes sense. It’s not nearly as cold out, so we tend to think that our wool and cashmere sweaters can be retired for a few months.

I believe that thought is misguided.

I came to this realization not too long ago. I posted an “OOTW” article which highlighted an old cotton sweater of mine. Long story short, the outfit wasn’t a winner. Also, what dawned on me was that cotton sweaters are kind of pointless. Let me explain…

Cotton sweaters can certainly look quite handsome. This article is not a knock against how cotton sweaters look. This article is about how cotton sweaters perform.

Basically, a cotton sweater is never the best choice.

These days the temperature fluctuates a great deal. In the shade, it can be quite chilly when the wind is blowing, but step two feet into the sun and it’s suddenly twenty degrees hotter. A cotton sweater is not going to keep you as warm as a wool sweater and it won’t breathe as well or regulate your body temperature as well when it’s warm out.

We are also getting to that time of year when outerwear isn’t needed, but the weather can still be unpredictable. If it starts to drizzle a little, as is common in spring, your wool sweater will keep you warmer and drier and will dry out quicker than cotton.

Practically, a cotton sweater just doesn’t DO as much as a wool sweater.

Also, when we think of a cotton sweater, we naturally assume it’s lighter in weight. But that’s usually not the case. A cotton sweater usually has some considerable heft compared to a cashmere or thin, merino wool.

Think of it this way: aren’t most of us just fine wearing a lightweight, wool suit in the spring or summer? It’s the same thing with sweaters.

The one good thing about a cotton sweater is that you can chuck it in the wash when you need to (which is something you can’t do with a wool sweater). That’s definitely true, but I find that I don’t really ever wash my wool stuff anyway, especially not my sweaters that I’m always wearing over another shirt. Since they hardly ever touch my skin, they never get “dirty”. After I wear them, I simply drape them over a bedpost or hanger (folded over the hanger, not hung by the shoulders) and they air out fairly quickly. If I really need to, I’ll wedge a dryer sheet into a fold of the sweater to make it smell better, but I almost never need to do that.

Case in point: You’ve all probably seen my wool shirt from Filson that I use for chopping wood.

When I chop wood, I get DRENCHED in sweat. Like, “sweat pouring off my face so hard that I can’t see out of my glasses”. I wear my wool shirt every time I chop, which is quite literally every day. Each time I’m done, I toss the wool shirt over the bedpost. It dries out and never smells bad. I’ve been doing that since I got the shirt for Christmas. I have never washed it. It’s been sweated in, rained and snowed on, and gotten dirt on it (which I just brush off). Wool is incredibly resilient to pretty much everything.

The ability to wash a cotton sweater isn’t as much of a benefit over a wool sweater as you think it is. Since a cotton sweater is made of cotton, you HAVE to wash it more than a wool sweater because it will hold onto odor more. So, it’s not really much of an advantage.

To me, cotton sweaters are similar to casual sport coats. I just never reach for them since there is always a better option. They just kind of take up space in my closet. They’re not even good for the winter, since they don’t keep me warm enough.

When I want to wear a sweater in the spring, I want something that is lightweight, will keep me warm if I need it to, and won’t make me feel like I’m baking if I’m sitting in the sun or walking anywhere. A cotton sweater just doesn’t really cut it for me.

We dads are always trying to be practical and cost-conscious. In my opinion, if you have a lightweight wool or cashmere sweater in your wardrobe, there is no need to purchase a cotton sweater for the warmer months. Sure, I probably won’t be wearing my chunky, Aran cableknits for a while, but I will absolutely get some wear from my thin, merino cardigan, or my wool/blend crewneck.

My point is this: don’t view not having a good cotton sweater as a hole in your wardrobe. I have a handful of them and they never get worn.

So, for a good spring sweater option, a thin, merino cardigan is probably your best bet. Not only is it really light, but you won’t have to pull it up over your head if you need to remove it. It’s a quick and easy layering choice.

While I am fairly certain I’m right about this, I am curious to know your thoughts! Do you think I’m wrong? Does owning one or more cotton sweaters make sense? If so, in what situations do you find them most useful?