Secondhand wool sweaters
I'm looking to get a couple used wool sweaters (possibly a cardigan too) in the ~$40-50 price range on ebay/poshmark/wherever. I currently just own a few acrylic Uniqlo sweaters, so I'm hoping to up my game this season and get something chunkier, warmer, and with a better drape. I read the sweater/knitwear guides but am still pretty overwhelmed in my search, so could use a hand if anyone has recommendations.
I'm sifting through the deluge of options that come up on ebay for "shetland sweater" and it's a lot. In my price range I see some J Crew, some more recent Pendleton, 80s/90s department store brands like Club Room, and then lots of lesser known vintage brands. (Just went down a rabbit hole looking at a brand called "Aran Crafts" that was in my price range, but looks to be sold on QVC which is sketchy). Found a beautiful heavyweight vintage Pendleton a little out of my price range ($80) that I'm kind of drooling over, but I just have no grasp on value/pricing yet.
At this price range I don't really know how to evaluate since I'm not looking at the big names that come up for shetland recommendations. Could just go based on looks but figured I'd check here since it's such new territory for me.
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I don't know what US eBay is like in terms of availability of these brands compared to here, but for that budget I'd probably search for:
- Harley's of Scotland,
- William Lockie,
- Johnstons of Elgin
(for lambswool, you won't get their premium cashmere that they're famous for at that price unless you're REALLY lucky with a suboptimised listing)
And remember to make offers that are a fair bit less than the asking price, unless you're so super in love with something you must have it now you can probably get it for 30-50% less than listed if you're patient
I would focus on material and pattern over brand.
Look for 100% wool or lambswool
Also where it was made.
There are some real gems if you're willing to spend time looking at listings.
Are you looking for fair isle? Chunky fisherman sweater? Scandinavian? Or just something interesting?
Fair isle could be cool but I’m mostly lookingThe for solid color, something to layer over OCBDs. Definitely open to chunky options.
I’ve seen some made in USA and Scotland, then a lot of Hong Kong, Korea, and more recently China. Most Pendleton I’m seeing is Mauritius but older items are USA
Not as interested in finer merino sweaters. Something with texture would be cool! Sorry if this is vague, guess I’m figuring it out
Look at https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1157095088988631140. I just searched eBay for Gaeltarra, and there is some incredible, unique stuff. But you could also just search for something like "wool sweater made in Ireland" and see what pops up. That will probably get you a lot of solid chunky options.
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Oh yeah lots of cool stuff coming up for that brand. Thanks for the tip!
Just bear in mind it's probably at least 20 years old
And it's not a brand, really.
And I recommend against focusing on brand here.
yeah I've got a lot in my watchlist on ebay now and pretty much nothing from the same brand twice
Sounds like you are on the right track.
You could also fall in love with a pale Irish lass who loves to knit, but eBay is probably simpler. 😀
add in inverallan if you want chonky cable knit
Does anyone have experience with Howlin? I found a new with tag Birth of the Cool sweater for a good price but I keep reading conflicting things about their sizing. Size chart looks ok, maybe a little long, though measurements on ended ebay listings don’t really sync up with the size chart. My other sweaters are M, about 22” chest and 26” length and this is a L with 23.8” chest, 28.3” length. I’m 5’9” and a 42” chest.
I have howlin. If you want comfort, up a size. Otherwise it fit slim
Cool, thanks! Just saw another size chart that makes it seem like the fit will be spot on, so I’m gonna make an offer.
Jamiesons Shetland or Vintage Alan Paine sweaters are good ones as well!
there are also some other good knitwear companies that make shetland sweater and such, but their output is relatively small, which is why you don't really find them on ebay etc. (e.g. Mallochs from Scotland, or Inis Meain from the Irish Aran Islands)
Jamiesons was a little out of my price range. This Alan Paine stuff is great though, thanks for the tip.
I ended up ordering 2 crew neck shetlands - a vintage Pendleton and a NWT Howlin’ - as well as a sort of off beat basket weave patterned cardigan. There’s so much good stuff out there that is really very cheap, though I ended up expanding my budget a little bit to get the stuff I really wanted. Gonna be hard to stop creeping on these eBay searches, but I think that’s all my wallet can handle for now.
Howlin is a great choice, good find on both of those!
is howlin a scottish company?
I think they are scandanavian but the name is from Scottish slang and they make their wool knitwear in Scotland!
yeah I've wondered, found a nice one on Vinted recently and tempted to buy it.
Oh they're Belgian https://howlinknitwear.com/our-story/
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Hello. We are an Antwerp based knitwear brand. Since 1981 we have been producing quality knitwear in Scotland and in 2009 we launched our new ...
Yeah, got myself a lovely cashmere sweater a while ago from Alan Paine, was an absolute bargain for 25€. Unfortunately, nowadays most of their stuff is produced abroad, and not anymore in England. But luckily there is still plenty vintage stuff going around.
Bit surprised that their Shetland sweaters are so expensive, more than double the price of Harleys of Scotland.
I think they got hyped, I remember them being cheaper too