When you start to feel a subtle chill in the air — or a not-so-subtle chill — it’s time you fight back, or rather, layer up accordingly. Fall and winter pass muster when it comes to the best seasons for menswear, at least in my humble opinion, with the ability to experiment with rugged texture, layering and the sort of modern takes on heritage styles that would make menswear icons of days gone by quite proud to wear.
One of the best cardigans for men makes plenty of sense in that regard, and when it comes to today’s style highlight, you needn’t spend an arm and a leg to get it.
That’s because it hails from The Tie Bar, the affordable Chicago purveyor of some of the coolest ties, most versatile and eye-catching ties on the market — a brand that now includes a full lineup of head-to-toe menswear, from dress shirting to sweaters, polos and the Tie Bar Merino Heritage Shawl Cardigan on display here.
About that mixture of modern updates to classic styles: The Tie Bar delivers in every sense, using merino wool to step up the performance-minded nature of this handsome piece.
Performance might not be the first thing you look for in a shawl collar cardigan, but the burly style gains an added edge thanks to the use of temperature-regulating fabrication that should make this an easy layering choice over a chambray shirt, an Oxford shirt or perhaps even a lightweight flannel shirt on especially brisk days.
It’s just an added bonus that the Graphite color of the rugged-yet-refined Tie Bar Merino Heritage Shawl Cardigan wears well with just about any #menswear combination you can dream up, from burgundy corduroys and that aforementioned Oxford shirt to olive chinos and a thermal henley.
I’d even go so far as to say you can layer your new favorite cardigan beneath a Barbour waxed field jacket for outdoor pursuits aplenty in the weeks and months ahead.
And with its vertical ribbing and sturdy shawl collar, this piece should prove a more than suitable layer for elegant holiday affairs, no matter how you style it — and of course, since it’s The Tie Bar we’re talking about here, this stylish men’s cardigan retails for a fairly agreeable $128. That’s a blend of style and savings I can get behind, indeed, my friends.
