About the Author: Stephen Knight is a photographer / videographer who founded Itsaknightslife. His mission is to tell the story of people through style, food, music, and dancing. Catch his stuff at itsaknightslife on Instagram and Youtube.
Amazon said they were gunning for the menswear market, and it looks like they are holding their promise with these $35 Goodthreads merino wool v-neck sweaters. When I first heard about these things, I subconsciously disregarded this sweater because I was already in love with my Banana Republic and J. Crew all merino wool sweaters. But keep an open mind with this review, as I had to do when actually wearing this thing. Because Amazon keeps surprising me day by day.
Point blank, this looks like a basic V-neck sweater. Don’t take that as an insult, because it isn’t. This is a style staple, which means you want this to be a little more reserved anyway. The only things that gives the sweater any type of character is the ribbing located on the waist, wrist, and the neck area, along with the color choices.
Eight colors to pick from. Tons of size, including tall options if you’re quite vertical type.
I got the grey and the “camel” colors for this review. The grey was a standard light grey, and the shade looked comparable to other major brands, which means no surprises when looking at it. The camel came in a little darker than I expected. I do like the color of it in general, but I was expecting a shade or two lighter. This won’t affect the pair-ability with other complimentary colors, just something to keep in mind versus other brands. Overall I find this sweater to be very attractive, and can be paired with anything from suit layers, all the way to casual jeans.
Size small on 5’10” / 170
There’s a feeling that merino wool brings that is hard to mistake. It feels good to wear year round, and usually doesn’t get in the way of whatever else you are wearing. This sweater is 100% merino wool (the wool is imported, but isn’t specified from where), and does have a fairly soft feel to it. But comparing it to J Crew, Banana, and Uniqlo, this is the least soft of the group in my estimation. The actual weave feels tighter, which is probably why it isn’t the softest feeling of the bunch. This is a subjective critique, as this sweater is still fairly comfortable to wear all day, although there were times I did feel a bit itchy in them.
The ribbing of the cuffs, waist, and neckline is a little rougher than the others, and doesn’t have as much of a “groove” to them. Just like any merino sweater, these can be worn at any time of the year, over a T-shirt in the spring and summer, and layered with other outerwear in the cooler months. I found this sweater to be a little warmer than my Banana Republic and J. Crew version, but just about equal as the Uniqlo version. It feels solidly made with good stitching, and should last many years to come.
Here’s the part where I had to keep an open mind. Once I find a brand (usually J. Crew as most of you know by now) that fits me, I usually stick to that brand. I’m going to compare this version to the BR, J Crew, and Uniqlo versions to try and paint a picture. This is probably my favorite fitting merino sweater of the bunch. Yes, you read that correctly. Wearing a small at 5’10 and 170, I always found the BR and J. Crew versions of the merino v-necks to be too slim to layer with certain kinds of clothing, as some shirts would make the fit tighter. This version didn’t have those issues. The sleeve length was perfect which is also rare as I have a longer wingspan than normal, so if you have shorter arms, this is something to take into consideration.
The length of the waist is a little longer than normal, but to be honest, I didn’t mind it too much. I found it a more acceptable length than my BR sweaters, which seemed chopped in comparison. Being able to move around without noticing the sweater is a feat that’s rare, especially when layering up, meaning I will probably reach for these if I’m going to be active around town and need to have some breathing room.
At $35 dollars, this is where things become interesting. At the time of writing, J. Crew’s version cost $48 which includes a 40% off discount ($79.50 full price). BR’s Italian merino wool sweater costs ~$90 but with an often ran 40-50% discount, will drop to about 40-50 bucks. Uniqlo makes the decision a little harder with their $40 everyday price tag for their merino sweater. At this price tag, it makes it hard for me to justify paying the J Crew and BR price, especially when this sweater fit me better than the former two, although being a little rougher to the touch. Going back to the beginning of this review I said Amazon is gunning for the menswear market, and it looks like they nailed it with this style staple.
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