As warm as a cardigan, but lovely as a work of art

On the soft knit hooded cardigan that goes on with five wooden buttons, keeps the draught off your neck, and — yes — makes people stop you to ask about the print. The layer I now reach for without thinking.

By Carol Hadley · Fairhope, AlabamaPosted September 2026 · 5 min read

I am 65 years old, and I own more beige cardigans than any woman should. They are warm, they are easy, and every single one of them makes me look like the wallpaper. I have worn them to the shop, to lunch, to my granddaughter's recital. Nobody has ever remarked on one.

The alternative, as far as I could find, was thin bright polyester that itched at the neck, pulled over the head and ruined my hair, and stopped being warm the moment the sun went in. Cozy but dull, or pretty but useless. Nothing was both.

Then my daughter came home from a weekend away in a hooded cardigan covered in a print like stitched folk art — purples, blues, a little yellow — done up with wooden buttons. It was the first cardigan in my life I asked to try on. It was warm. It was soft. And she would not let me keep it.

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

1.As warm as a cardigan — but a work of art

We wanted the warmth and ease of a proper knit cardigan with none of the beige. The Leila is a soft, mid-weight knit with an all-over print like a woven tapestry — purple, periwinkle, magenta, teal, a little olive and yellow — that looks stitched rather than printed. It is a cardigan you can wear to the market and be asked about twice before the bread stall.

2.Soft, warm knit — cozy without a hint of scratch

We chose a brushed knit that is soft the moment you put it on — no breaking-in, no itch at the collar, no scratch at the wrist. It has the weight of a real cardigan, so it is warm on the porch in the morning and warm again when the sun drops, and it never once feels thin.

3.The print people stop you to ask about

We spent longer on the print than on anything else. Up close it looks like cross-stitch — little blocks of colour on a woven ground, with a texture your fingers want to run over. From across the room it reads as rich, deep colour with nothing loud about it. It comes in six colourways; the purple is the one my daughter would not give back.

4.Wooden buttons and a cozy hood that make it easy

We put five round wooden buttons up the front, so it goes on and off in a moment with nothing pulled over your head and nothing done to your hair. And we gave it a proper attached hood — soft, lined, big enough to go up over your ears — so when the wind gets up you have your neck covered without going back for a scarf.

5.It layers over everything you own

We cut the Leila relaxed, with a V neckline that sits open over a tee or a simple top and long sleeves that reach the wrist. Over jeans it is an outfit. Over a plain dress it is the thing people notice. Over leggings on a Sunday it is the reason you do not mind answering the door.

6.Six artful prints, and a size for you, from S to 4XL

We make the Leila in six colourways — purple, yellow, beige, dark green, floral white and light yellow — and size it true from S to 4XL, every size cut with the same easy shape. Take your usual. And if it is not right when it arrives, send it back within thirty days and we refund you in full.

The usual cardigan vs. the Leila

Why we're clearing it now

We priced the Leila at $199.95 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 cardigan 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 the first morning I wore the Leila to the market, the woman at the bread stall asked me where I got it, and then her daughter did, and then a man I have bought tomatoes from for eleven years told me it suited me. I had not been noticed like that in years. It felt like getting a piece of myself back.

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.