The sweater I put on at seven and am still wearing at nine at night

It is as warm as the thickest thing I own, and I am not hot in it once all day. I did not know that was possible.

By Carol Hadley · Fairhope, AlabamaPosted September 2026 · 4 min read

Every autumn I do the same silly dance. The thick sweaters are warm enough for the cold mornings, but by eleven, with the heating on and the sun through the kitchen window, I am too warm and it comes off. Then the thin ones go on and by four I am cold again.

So I spend the whole season taking things off and putting them back on, and there is always a pile of knitwear on the back of a chair that never quite gets put away.

My sister turned up in this one in October and did not take it off all day. Not once. I asked her about it twice before she finally told me where it was from.

We are a small family shop here in Fairhope, Alabama, running since 1984. The sweater is called the Crestine, and these are the handful of things we refused to compromise on.

1.Two layers of waffle knit, and it still breathes

That is the whole trick, and it is in the weave. The waffle knit is double-layered, so it traps warmth the way a much heavier sweater does, but the little open squares let the air move. Warm on a cold morning, still comfortable at two in the afternoon with the heating on. That is why it stays on all day.

2.A soft brushed inside

Turn back a cuff and you will see it: the inside is brushed soft, almost fleecy, so it goes straight on over bare arms without a thing underneath. No scratch, no prickle, nothing that needs a long-sleeve top between you and it.

3.The buttons at the neck do the work

It is a small thing that changes everything. A short row of buttons at the neckline, the way a good shirt has, and suddenly a comfortable sweater reads as something you chose rather than something you grabbed. Nobody looks at you and thinks loungewear.

4.Cut easy through the body and the arms

Relaxed the whole way through, hip length, with ribbed cuffs that hold when you push the sleeves back. It skims rather than grips, and it goes over jeans, leggings or a pair of easy trousers without any thought at all.

5.Two looks, depending on your mood

There is a crisp geometric monochrome, which goes with absolutely everything you own, and a vibrant multicolour block print for the days you want a bit of colour. Same sweater, two quite different moods.

6.Real sizes, S to 5XL

Cut generous on purpose, to fit the woman rather than the other way around. Machine wash cold, lay it flat to dry, and it comes back the same shape it went in.

The usual winter sweater vs. the Crestine

Why we're clearing it now

We priced the Crestine at $280.00 when it launched. But for America's 250th Anniversary, we wanted to give something back to the women who keep our doors open — so every one is going out at a fraction of that.

Every order leaves Fairhope folded in a kraft paper mailer with a handwritten note from one of us tucked on top. It is a small thing. We have found the small things are the ones people remember.

I do not usually write things like this. But I have spent a lot of autumns taking a sweater off at eleven and putting it back on at four, and I did not think there was anything to be done about it.

If that sounds like you, I hope you get yours before it clears.

— Carol Hadley · Fairhope, AL

The Hadley Family is a small family-run shop. Prices and availability shown are current at the time of writing.