The Strategist’s Official ‘Boyfriend’ Sweater
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This is the kind of cold that rattles radiators in prewar apartments — and that makes you sweat throughcashmereor merino wool. How do you stay warm without feeling like you’re running a fever? Well, four of us on the Strategist team had the same idea (not for the first time!): wearing a 100 percent cotton Gap sweater.
Our senior writerEmma Wartzmanmight’ve gotten one first — hers was originally called theOversized Boyfriend Sweater. Then our writerTembe Denton-Hurstgot hers when it was called the100% Cotton Oversized Boyfriend Sweater. Last year, after it arrived in the mail,her message in our team Slack was immediate: “Breaking news, it’s incredible.” It was convincing enough for our senior writerLauren Ro, who promptly ordered her own. This season, it’s branded under yet another name, the 100% Cotton Oversized Sweater, but it’s still identical to previous versions. I had to get one for myself as part of my search to findevery all-cotton, under-$150 sweater. It was one of my favorite sweaters I tried — and I tried over a dozen.
Something nearly everyone agrees on is that you should size down at least one size (it’s available in sizes XXS to XXL, and we all took different sizes, from XXS to XL, in the sweater). “At the time, most of the sizes had sold out, so I got the last one in XXS,” Ro tells me. “I probably could have even gotten away with an XS, but I really wanted the sweater and took a risk with the last available size.” Denton-Hurst, who bought an XL, would’ve liked it alittlebit more oversize (she wishes she bought the XXL instead). I went for a S (I’m usually an M) and found the fit slightly oversize, butnotin a way that swallowed me whole.
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The best thing about it is the weight: It’s made from 100 percent cotton and not flimsy in the slightest. “It’s a great weight — thick and tightly knit, but cotton and so breathable,” Wartzman says. It can easily be layered too, and you can wear it in 37 degree temperatures and 68 degree temperatures (as I have). “I can’t think of a cold-ish week when I haven’t pulled it out,” Denton-Hurst says. It’s even turned her into someone who wears a sweater around the house. “Previously, I’d only wearT-shirtsor hoodies, but the cotton is breathable enough that I don’t feel that I’m baking when wearing it,” she tells me.
Not bad for a sweater that retails for $79.99. “It’s a great sweater for the price,” says Ro. “It has a nice heft to it and is easy to wash.” When it’s time to launder the sweater, Ro throws it in the washer and then the dryer on low. (I’m planning onhand-washing it in cold water and laying it flat to drywhen winter’s over.) We all agree that it’s a sweater you can get at least a few seasons out of. Some of us already have: “I’ve had it for a little over a year now and it has really held up,” Denton-Hurst says. Wartzman has had hers the longest among us, since October 2024, and says that it looks almost the same as the day she got it.
And it looksgood. “It’s the ideal weekend-with-the-kids sweater: I feel put together wearing it without having to be too precious about it getting mucked up,” Ro says. Just over this weekend, a mom even asked her if the sweater was La Ligne. I myself have been wearing it every chance I can this winter — it goes with just about anything — and I’ll surely be wearing it come spring, too.
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