3 Styling Tricks That Make My Boring Sweaters Feel Brand New
I borrowed ideas from Zoë Kravitz, Gigi Hadid, and Jennifer Lawrence.
Every year, I greet sweater weather like a long-lost friend. I start romanticizing the season sometime around the midpoint of summer, but the real excitement comes with the first chill in the morning air that warrants an extra layer, spotting someone in a cozy zip-up on my morning dog walk, and the prospect of spending an entire Sunday indoors wearing cashmere (though, as the mother of a one-year-old, there's a good chance it'll have a few sticky fingerprints on it by noon).
By November, the romance has worn off a little, and the dry cleaning has started piling up. I'm usually back to wearing the same three sweaters with my default black trousers and flats, and what was supposed to be the most exciting season for getting dressed has become an uninspired exercise in staying warm.
This year, I'm getting ahead of the inevitable sweater fatigue by taking cues from three women I consider authorities on the subject: Zoë Kravitz, Gigi Hadid, and Jennifer Lawrence. All three have a knack for making knitwear the focal point of an outfit, and their latest looks have me reconsidering a few sweater trends that are surprisingly easy to wear.
Feast your eyes on my sweater styling blueprint for Winter 2026.
The Collared Sweater
Few people understand the appeal of exaggerated proportions quite like Zoë Kravitz. She's petite, but you'd never know it from her affection for enormous scarves, oversized knits, and layers that, on someone else, might resemble a laundry pile. Instead of shying away from all that volume, she leans into it. As a fellow petite person, I find her ability to wear what looks like twice her body weight in knitwear without disappearing underneath it particularly impressive.
Her latest endorsement of the collared sweater is slightly more restrained, though no less interesting. The silhouette is hardly new, but Michael Rider's arrival at Celine has given the preppy staple a fresh lease on life. And while I'm not usually drawn to anything that feels too country club, there's something super chic about a collar peeking out from beneath a wooly coat.
How I Styled It
To test the collared sweater trend, I went all in on neutrals.
Taking a cue from Kravitz, I paired a taupe collared cashmere sweater with black pleated trousers and a chocolate suede jacket draped over my shoulders. At 5'1", I'm always conscious of proportions, so tucking in the sweater helped balance the oversized jacket. I finished with a gold watch and sunglasses, letting the mix of textures and my favorite brown-and-black color combination do the heavy lifting.
The Cardigan Jacket
Gigi Hadid knows her way around a good sweater. Between running her own knitwear label, Guest in Residence, and having what I imagine is an enviable personal cashmere collection, she's made a compelling case for treating knitwear as something more than a supporting character in an outfit. And while I have a soft spot for her colorful, slightly eccentric approach to layering, I find myself returning to her more understated looks.
Recently, she stepped out in a gray cardigan and coordinating knit separates, topped with a worn-in oversized brown leather jacket. With its substantial knit, structured silhouette, and a decorative button, the cardigan jacket makes a strong argument for retiring the blazer, at least until spring.
How I Style It
I stayed cozy at the farmers market in a classic cardigan sweater.
I wore a deep navy, gold-buttoned cardigan jacket as a top, leaning into its more tailored qualities rather than treating it as an extra layer. The structured shoulders and substantial knit gave it enough presence to stand on its own. I'd also wear it with a longer skirt or layer a coat over it when the weather calls for one. The beauty of this sweater is that once you inevitably take your outerwear off, you still have a great outfit underneath, without sacrificing warmth.
The Scarf Sweater
Jennifer Lawrence has become something of an unofficial ambassador for The Row and its cult-favorite knitwear, alongside her off-duty wardrobe of oversized trousers, baseball caps, and sneakers.
Case in point: a recent outing in a graphic T-shirt, black trousers, and slip-on sneakers, with a bright red sweater thrown over her shoulders. It looks like the sort of outfit you could put together half-asleep, though the effect is harder to achieve than it looks. I've always loved the unofficial editor’s cape, aka the scarf-sweater trend, and Lawrence's take is a good reminder that you don't necessarily need a new knit to get the look. A sweater you already own, loosely tied around your neck or draped over your shoulders, does the job just as well.
How I Style It
My favorite sweater styling hack? Wearing it as an accessory.
I took a slightly dressier approach, draping a cream sweater over a black blazer and matching trousers. I'm a big fan of wearing a knit as an accessory, especially when an outfit needs a little something but jewelry isn't quite the vibe. The cream breaks up all the black, and I like that I can throw the sweater on if I get cold. It's also a good way to get another outfit out of a blazer I've worn approximately one million times.
