Okay. Bear with me. This is going to sound insane but two years ago I started noticing high fashion editors wearing the same Marks & Spencer sweater.
I did what any sane person would do and became mildly obsessed with it. Let me back up. I spend way too much time scrolling through street style photos – obvs I’m always looking for outfit inspiration for content – but I also have this weird knack for picking up on repeat items in photos.
I think it’s because I spend so much time staring at influencers’ outfits trying to work out where everything is from. So last February I noticed a navy sweater popping up over and over again in Paris Fashion Week street styles.
Not style-wise, the same sweater.
On different people, styled in totally different ways but the same item. I knew it. Like I said earlier I’ve honed this weird talent for spotting these duped items in photos.
Mostly because I’m trash at IDing items so I take screenshots of outfits and put them into Facebook groups to ask if anyone knows where something is from. So I made a note to self that I had to find out what this mystery sweater was. Brands generally gift the same item to a bunch of editors so my initial thought was that this was an up and coming designer collaboration or it was from one of the more trendy brands.
But this sweater didn’t look THAT expensive? It looked… normal? Like a really good quality normal sweater that wasn’t obviously from a brand I would expect to see worn at fashion week.
Fast forward a few months and I see the same girlfriend wearing it again. But this time she has a story straight from the warehouse of M&S saved in her highlights. I screamed once again, but this time in my flat.
My neighbours will think I’m crazy. Marks & Spencer, to anyone who isn’t British, is basically the epitome of not trendy. It’s where your mum buys her cardigans and your dad buys his work trousers.
It’s everywhere but at the same time nowhere trendy enough that fashion editors would buy something from there. I knew I had to try this sweater for myself. I went into my local M&S – none of this delivered by drone shit, I go into the actual shop – and found the jumper nestled on the rack between some tragic floral shirts and some questionable graphic t-shirts by the till.
It retails at £89 now but was cheaper when I bought it – though still nothing compared to what we’d spend on a cashmere sweater – and I knew I needed it. In every colour. Obviously to “research” this article.
Anyway. Fast forward to today and I own it in five colours. It’s genuinely the best sweater.
Ever. Fit-wise it’s pretty much perfect. It’s relaxed but not baggy.
It fits softly without being too tight. It’s the kind of jumper you can pair with jeans or barely anything and still look pulled together. It’s a dream to wear.
It doesn’t overwhelm your figure but also isn’t so fitted that it clings to your body. It’s thick enough that you know it’s real cashmere. Not some dreadfully itchy number that pops at the smallest abrasion like a lot of high-end knitwear.
The colour selection is also great. I know that sounds super basic but you’d be surprised how many “navy” jumpers are actually more like black that just look blue in the shops. This sweater comes in THESE colours – black, navy, moss, camel, mustard and off-white.
You need all the colours. Trust. I have washed this sweater with my greasiest of work outfits before forgetting about it and it ending up in the dry clean-only pile.
I’ve had it caught in the rain so many times. Stuck it in an overloaded suitcase so it came back torn and stretched. Ignored it so much that I put it in the dryer on high.
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And it still looks great. To anyone who only shops at Net-a-Porter or knows their jackets from their trousers, this sweater is life-changing. It really is that good.
What’s interesting is you start to see it everywhere once you start paying attention. At events, stylish people wearing it with everything. One person I saw styled it with some old school Levi’s for a quick coffee.
Someone else wore it with a pleated midi skirt for an evening event. It goes with literally everything. I’ve even worn it with leather trousers for a night out.
It just works. Another thing I love is spotting them when I’m at fashion week or other events. Last season I swear I counted eight in one afternoon.
Each styled so differently. One stylish girl paired hers with a f***ing giant puffy skirt that was probably worth more than my entire apartment. Another wore it with vintage jeans and designer trainers.
I even saw it on what I think may have been Anna Wintour’s assistant but OBVIOUSLY I didn’t go up to her to confirm if it was the same jumper. The craziest thing is M&S don’t even realise they’re killing it in the fashion world. They literally just replenish the stock each season and continue to sell the same sweater.
Sure they may change up the colours here and there but they’ll never mess with a formula that works. When everything in fashion is about being ‘new’, brands taking this literally seasonless approach is kind of game-changing. OBVIOUSLY I have bought other high-street cashmere jumpers for the sake of comparing.
Uniqlo do a cheaper version but it’s thinner and not as good quality. COS have some other nice ones but they always feel too trendy? The supermarket ones are… rubbish.
Nothing against the other high-street options but there’s something about this particular jumper that M&S do that is just better. Don’t they hate me? The funny thing is I’ve done some digging and fashion editors have been wearing this sweater for YEARS.
Like over a decade. They’ve popped up throughout every season I’ve started looking for them. Through countless trends, changes in the industry and even M&S’ foray into trying to be “fashion” in previous years.
Yeah let’s not talk about that time. I think what we’re seeing here is that the style world isn’t what people think it is. The general public thinks we’re raking through sample sales and spraying our clothes with AXE to try and look high-end.
Newsflash we’re not. Most of my favourite stylish females wear basics and add trend pieces where they fit. This sweater is a basic through and through but can be dressed up or down.
It’s honestly perfect. It has now reached the point where when the cashmere section gets restocked I excitedly check to see if they’ve brought any new colours in. Last year I even set my phone alarm to ensure I was one of the first people to buy the burgundy colour in my size online.
Like how the hell did I become addicted to a sweater from Marks & Spencer?!
I’m not the only one apparently. Everyone I speak to about this has a reminder on their phone for when the new colours are released each autumn.
The best part is you instantly feel like you’re in an insider club once you start spotting them. Like I mentioned previously when you see someone wearing the same sweater you’ve got a little moment of fashion sisterhood. Which is crazy when you think about it coming from probably the least cool store.
But I guess that’s what makes it so cool? Will writing about it take away from the hype? Almost definitely.
But M&S have never been cool enough for the media to purposely over-hype their pieces so I don’t think posting about it is going to matter. It’s honestly that good. Write what you want people, I’m never throwing out my trusty M&S.
