For years I thought beige on beige was a look reserved for sad people. My mum wore a beige roll neck to my cousin’s christening in 2003 and I decided at age 11 that beige was a colour worn by women who’d given up. I was wrong and to be honest with you beige, I’m sorry. You’ve never been the problem. I was just buying the wrong you. Fabric that pilled after two washings and a shade that flattered nobody’s skin tone.
Because beige rolled neck done right isn’t boring at all.
It’s the jumper that makes your face look less shitty from lack of sleep, that hugs your neck just close enough to actually warm you without eating your jaw line and doesn’t get all bobbly and sad after one wash. A good beige roll neck has heft to it. You should feel it when you put it on. It’s not just there for aesthetics. And colour-wise there should be something warm in it. More oat or biscuit than plain ol’ beige that flattens your skin and makes you look like you just got off of a matte.
The real styling clincher here is it does what camel coats and cream blazers say they do without nearly as much effort.
Pop it under some wide leg trousers and you’re doing it right. Throw it on under a blazer and you look like the CEO of something. Throw it on with jeans and gold jewellery and hey presto, you’re not trying! Which is kind of, also, trying. My colleague Priya wore hers under a suit to meet a client and got complimented on her jumper at least three times before lunch. This is either magic jumper levels or proof that nobody at said meeting was actually listening to the pitch.
It’s your go to for all those weird in between seasons days, the interview, the lunch with an important person where you want to look impressive but not TRYING to look impressive, the flight where you want to arrive looking alive. Not trendy, not slouchy. Just put together. The jumps they tell you not to wear at fetes, because it hides your body. Worn nicely, it can actually accent your shoulders and do that quiet ‘I spent a lot of money on this sweater but who’s counting?’ thing while you go do your thing.
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