Consider This My Formal Case for Replacing Your Tired Crewneck With a Rollneck Sweater

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Quick Overview

I’M DEEP INTO the rollneck sweater resurgence right now. It might be because I’ve been watching too many old movies, or because I’m still seeing screengrabs of Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly from Love Story all these months later. Now, whenever I run into a guy wearing one with jeans and a big coat as the weather cools, I can’t help but marvel at how suave it looks (and how easy it is to pull off). It’s made me rather tired of my traditional crewneck sweaters. So, here we are.

J.Crew originated the signature in 1988, introducing the knit with a high neckline that naturally rolls over (hence the name). Last fall, the brand refreshed the rollneck in plenty of new colorways, and it became a hit with style guys on social media, at least the ones on my feed. Since then, J.Crew has kept the wheel moving with new takes on the knit, and other brands have followed suit with their own.

L.L. Bean makes an organic cotton version that’s lighter and easier to wear indoors. Flint and Tinder’s recycled-cotton Headlands sweater has more of a rugged, fisherman-sweater thing going on. It leans slightly more masc, but still has that charm. I’m particularly into the chunky ones from Quince (I’m wearing one as I write this), where the collar actually stands up around your neck and the sweater has enough weight to droop into a cozy, almost librarian-looking fit. Banana Republic’s cotton roll-neck is a little cleaner and more refined. And if you’re not ready to spend much on the whole experiment, Amazon has plenty of affordable ones worth trying first.

The funny thing about the rollneck is that it looks like it should be difficult to wear. It has a big collar and takes up a lot of visual real estate. Depending on the sweater, there can be a truly unreasonable amount of fabric around your neck. But it’s not a turtleneck, and so once you put one on, it’s basically the same as wearing a crewneck. Jeans, chinos, cords, whatever, with a coat over it, and there’s something about the silhouette that turns a fall fit into the movie love interest the main character meets in a rom-com.

That’s probably why I keep coming back to them, because yes, there is a certain kind of guy who wears a rollneck and looks like he owns a house in the country. But there is also a version of this sweater that works for the rest of us—like the date night frequenter, the office crush, sports bar attendee, and whoever else. I’m interested in that one.