cozy turtlenecks

Like other twins I know, my twin sister and I call each other all the time. Even when we know it may disrupt work, wake up a husband or overtired kids, we generally cannot help ourselves. But the one time we do not call each other is between the hours of 7AM to 8AM on weekdays, when we are both in the hectic throes of getting our kids dressed, fed and off to school. So when she rang me during that crazy hour last week, I picked up the phone, knowing whatever she had to say was direly important. "You have to put my new H&M sweater on LE CATCH," she said. She went on to describe the perfect chunky-knit navy turtleneck that she's been wearing to photo shoots in New York and how she's inspired famous models to drop everything and go buy one for themselves. "It kind of looks Celine," she explained, "and it doubles as a jacket--perfect for this transitional weather." I waited till after I dropped the kids off at school to check the turtleneck's availability on H&M's site only to discover it was no longer available in blue, just in black, with most sizes sold out. Since my sister proclaimed the navy one far superior, I started prowling around for other options, now feeling like I had this giant hole in my wardrobe. First, I came across the one above from Emerson Fry. Truth be told, it may have been the whole outfit that sold me on it. (You can find the boots here and the jeans here). Clearly, there's an art to wearing these big knits stylishly, lest you want to look slovenly, and the key is to balance the oversize sweaters with more streamlined, form-fitting pieces--i.e. a skinny jeans, a fitted jacket, etc. I rounded up some snaps, below, for how-to-wear-a-big-slouchy-turtleneck inspiration along with some amazingly cozy knits, including this, this, this, and this --all of which will stand up to winter's chilliest days.