A Petite Woman's Guide to Exploring Sweater Styles

If you are a woman with a petite build and looking to update your sweater collection with pieces that will flatter and enhance your figure, certain sweaters can help you do that more than others. When looking through the various sweater style choices, you quickly realize there are a myriad of options not just for the cold weather time of year, but even spring and summer. In this post, we will begin exploring a handful of sweater styles that serve to enhance the petite woman’s wardrobe.

A Paper-Thin, Basic Turtleneck

A nice, lightweight cashmere turtleneck in a solid, neutral color like black, gray, or anything from the beige palette is a great sweater essential option for petite women. Just because a sweater may be designed with a thinner fabric does not mean it’s cheap.

For example, several paper-thin cashmere turtleneck sweaters make for deliciously luxurious soft clothing that will have you feeling all the more glamorous for wearing it. A lightweight turtleneck in a soft neutral or pastel color or even a darker, moodier hue is very flattering for most body shapes, but particularly women with petite frames. There is a simplistic elegance about a good quality turtleneck that offers a flattering fit. It’s casual and comfortable, yet instantly striking.

A Long Open Cardigan

An excellent, casual sweater choice for all women is a long knit cardigan. It’s the kind of sweater you can get use out of in every season, and it’s the go-to article of clothing to slip into on a chilly spring morning, late fall afternoon, or just all day long throughout the blustery, snowy winter months.

For petite women, a long open cardigan sweater can create the appearance of a longer, taller frame. Pair a long open cardigan with a fitted tee or tank and denim jeans, leggings, or some other form-fitting pants. If you want to create an even more elongated appearance, finish the look with a pair of wedge heels in the spring and summer or chunky heel boots in the fall and winter.

A Chunky, Oversized Knit Sweater

When it comes to chunky, oversized knit sweaters, anyone who wears them should do so with one primary objective in mind: maximum levels of comfort. Yes, oversized sweaters are quite fashionable in the fall and winter seasons and they can definitely be worn in public quite stylishly, but they are also fabulous when worn as loungewear and something you’ll want to curl up in on a snowy Saturday movie day.

Oversized knit sweaters look great on petite women. Just remember to pair this top with bottoms that are not oversized. Stick to things like leggings or skinny jeans. Or, pair it with straight leg jeans or boot cut jeans and accessorize the look with a mid-sized tote and your favorite pair of chunky heeled ankle booties.

A Shawl Sweater

Similarly to the oversized sweater, a shawl sweater or even a tunic sweater is the kind of thing you would want to wear with contrasting bottoms like leggings or women's jeans. If you opted for baggy or boyfriend jeans, the look would get a bit too busy and would fail to show off any of the articles as cleanly. But worn with form-fitting bottoms, a shawl sweater instantly creates an effortlessly elegant look, no matter how casual. Like the long open cardigan, a shawl sweater is a delightful thing to be wrapped up in and generally tends to be designed with thicker, warmer fabric.

The Cable-Knit Sweater

A good quality cable knit sweater is a classic and just seems all the more fitting to wear during the holiday season. It’s stylish enough to be worn at parties and social functions, yet casual and comfortable enough to just wear around the house or to the grocery store on a daily basis. In fact, the cable-knit sweater is so beloved by people of all body shapes that it’s definitely worth investing in several of these to add to your fall and winter wardrobe.

For petite women, pair a cable knit sweater with straight leg blue denim or black trousers if you are going for something a bit dressier. Even white denim skinny jeans will look great with a cable knit sweater on a petite woman (the rules of no white after Labor Day no longer apply).

A timeless autumn outfit for a petite woman could include a beige cable-knit sweater, white skinny jeans, brown suede or leather ankle boots, and your favorite autumn handbag. Don’t forget to add a few colorful cable-knit sweaters to your wardrobe, like evergreen or cranberry red, to wear throughout the festive holiday season.