It’s only right to kick things off with what’s arguably the most ubiquitous sweater of all: the crewneck. The crewneck sweatshirt (at least as we think of it today) was born in 1920, when Benjamin Russell Jr., a University of Alabama football player, sought a lighter, softer alternative to the long sleeve wool jerseys worn at the time. His father produced the garments, creating both the very first crewneck sweatshirts and the Russell Athletic Company, a company that is today among the most storied purveyors of athletic gear—and of crewneck sweatshirts.

While the crewneck has evolved over the years, there is one element that has remained unchanged and it’s the design element that defines what a crewneck is—whether it’s a T-shirt or a sweater: the round neck opening. Crewnecks are still predominantly made from different types of cotton, ranging from fleece to French terry. The main difference between today’s crewnecks and those of yore is the fit: Russell’s original crewnecks, those distributed by the military and the first ones worn casually in the 1950s were all incredibly slim and form-fitting. Yes, the original crewneck had room to accommodate football pads, but it clung to those pads, rather than sitting loosely. Today’s crewnecks are cut more casually, designed to hang off the body with a decidedly larger chest.

Fit, though, has proven to be rather superfluous to the crewneck’s appeal. Over the years, it’s a style that’s been embraced by anybody and everybody—it’s been standard military issue; has been a workwear staple; remains a mainstay in the world of sports; is the canvas of choice for graphic sweaters within streetwear; and has penetrated luxury fashion.

Recommended Brands
$: Champion, Russell Athletic, Gap
$$: Reigning Champ, wings + horns, Todd Snyder
$$$: Comme des Garçons, Thom Browne, Kapital

The hoodie—the crewneck’s more casual cousin—was born from utilitarian need. In a general sense, though, hoods have been part of both mens and womenswear for centuries, with particularly strong roots among religious groups and soldiers. That said, the hoodie that we know and love has roots in the 1930s, when Champion first produced a hooded sweatshirt and marketed it to those who worked in frigid conditions in its native upstate New York.

The hooded sweatshirt evolved beyond a workwear staple in the ’70s, as the prevailing fashion slowly became more casual and as the hooded garments began appearing in iconic moments of pop culture. It wasn’t until the ’90s that the term hoodie was bandied about with regularity, as nascent hip-hop and streetwear cultures truly brought the hoodie into the mainstream. But you could make the argument that the hoodie was more infamous than famous—associated with loners and criminality, rather than fashion or utilitarianism. Even today, the hoodie carries with it some unpleasant (even political) connotations, despite the fact that it’s become a hallmark of Americana and streetwear, generally.

Despite recent elevated takes on hoodies that have appeared on the red carpet, the hooded garment has been primarily relegated to the realm of casual wear—albeit across aesthetics ranging from streetwear to Americana to avant-garde—worn alone or layered under a jacket.

Recommended Brands
$: Champion, Stussy, Carhartt
$$: John Elliott, Supreme, Yeezy, Fear of God
$$$: Gucci, Off-White, Vetements

A favorite for style icons across the style spectrum, the turtleneck’s roots date back to the 1800s. Like the crewneck and hooded sweatshirt, the turtleneck’s origins lay in utilitarian workwear, designed to offer added warmth and protection to sailors and fishermen. But, unlike the aforementioned two sweaters, the turtleneck was almost immediately co-opted for a more bourgeois purpose and worn by polo players—some Britons still refer to it as a Polo Neck.

Since then, the turtleneck has been embraced by just about every strata of society. It became part of the artist’s uniform in the 1920s and has remained so up until today. It was popular among Beatniks in the ’50s and ’60s and synonymous with rebellion and anti-establishmentarianism in the ’60s and ’70s. The turtleneck knows no societal bounds, worn, to this day, for every occasion and by everybody.

Slightly different than a mock neck, a turtleneck is usually defined by a collar that folds or rolls over itself and extends to, at least, the base of the Adam’s apple. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.

Perhaps what makes the turtleneck so popular is that it can be worn in so many ways. The same turtleneck—a simple black merino wool one, for example—can be worn as a base layer to keep warm on the ski slopes, worn as a casual mid-layer under a work jacket in the fall, worn as a standalone top with a pair of jeans or dress pants, or worn as an alternative to a shirt and tie under a suit.

Recommended Brands
$: Uniqlo, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren
$$: Stone Island, Our Legacy
$$$: Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana, Raf Simons

The mock neck’s origin story is considerably less interesting than that of the turtleneck. Simply put, a mock neck is a turtleneck with a shorter, looser collar that doesn’t fold or roll over. It finishes higher than a crewneck, but below the Adam’s apple. While a true mockneck would look and fit like a turtleneck with less neck coverage, a similar fit is achieved by quarter-zip pullover sweatshirts; it’s a much sportier aesthetic, but with brands like Ralph Lauren making several quarter zip sweaters, it’s easy to find an option that can be dressed up in the right context.

While Tiger Woods has long favored mock necks during play, the silhouette’s claim to fame is undoubtedly Steve Jobs’ famous affinity for a black Issey Miyake mock neck. What both Woods and Jobs showed was that the mock neck could become a defining element of one’s personal style. It’s a highly unique garment—worn by few and pulled off by even fewer.

In the open marketplace, you're bound to find several mock neck styles that lean closer to sportswear or true athletic wear. While this style might be best suited for your next cold weather-workout, the embroidered details you're likely to find on this style's high collar makes it perfect for a subtle logo hit to any fit.

Recommended Brands
$: Aimé Leon Dore, Nike
$$: Heron Preston, Fear of God Essentials
$$$: Issey Miyake, S.N.S Herning

Often associated with college campuses, “Ivy Style,” private country clubs and grandparents, cardigans were, originally, worn for military combat. The cardigan’s roots date back to the Crimean War, when the seventh Earl of Cardigan wore a collarless knitted jacket into battle. After the Earl’s return from combat, his namesake garment spread into mainstream British menswear. It was in the early 1920s that the cardigan became associated with tennis and golf—it was also around this time that it began to appear within womenswear.

Eventually, the cardigan became a staple on American college campuses, becoming a foundational element within Ivy style. As that generation of students graduated, the cardigan became deeply intertwined with academia and upper-middle-class fashion throughout the late ’50s and ’60s. The cardigan’s most notable pop culture moments had little to do with academia, though—instead, it’s a garment synonymous with Mister Rogers; its apex of cool cresting with Kurt Cobain on MTV shortly before his death by suicide.

The popular argument is that a cardigan is technically a cross between a jacket and a sweater and, thus, should always be worn as the outer-most layer, substituted in place of a blazer or jacket over a button down shirt or T-shirt. While the cardigan is traditionally slim-fitting, there are increasingly two schools of thought—at both extremes—on how to style it: from tight à la Thom Browne to exceedingly voluminous like Raf Simons.

For a contemporary take on the traditional sweater style, there's plenty of options that can deliver the effect without breaking the bank. Supreme has several that span from cotton to mohair that are staggering in their simplicity and sheer goodness. Tyler, the Creator helped bring the cardigan into the public style discussion through his own streetwear brand, Golf Wang. Of course, when in doubt, we also strongly recommend cardigans from the consistently strong Ralph Lauren suite of labels.

Recommended Brands
$: Lacoste, Polo Ralph Lauren
$$: Supreme, RRL, Golf Wang
$$$: Marni, Missoni, Thom Browne, Raf Simons

While the shawl collar doesn’t refer to a specific kind of sweater, it does refer to a broader group of sweaters that share one defining characteristic: a raised, turned-over collar. The shawl collar’s origins date back to Victorian-era smoking jackets and made its first appearance on sweaters through cardigans.

Today, the shawl collar cardigan remains, arguably, the most popular shawl collar sweater, but there are also a number of variations that riff on crewnecks, V-necks and even turtlenecks to a certain extent. Shawl collar sweaters tend to be made from heavier, more textured materials—think cable knit (which we’ll get to in a bit).

Beloved by the likes of Steve McQueen and Sean Connery, a good shawl neck adds a touch of class to the most casual looks, without sacrificing comfort. Given the bulkier silhouette, a shawl neck is best worn as a top layering with nothing more than a T-shirt or longsleeve underneath.

Recommended Brands
$: J.Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren
$$: Engineered Garments, Lemaire
$$$: RRL

The quarter opening pullover has long been a mainstay of outdoor-minded activewear, popularized in recent years within the gorpcore and normcore movements and by brands like Patagonia and The North Face. More fashion-minded brands have riffed on the classic quarter opening sweaters put forth by Patagonia, The North Face and other outerwear brands as part of their pivot towards gorpcore.

Patagonia’s Snap-T, arguably the best known quarter opening sweater, was first introduced in 1985 as a technical fleece—and it still remains more technical than any other sweater on our list. It’s often made from a lightweight, but warm, fleece and designed to be worn as a mid-layer or as a light outermost layer. If anything, the fit is somewhere between the aforementioned turtleneck and mock neck sweaters. For another alternative that might be a little more sports-focused, check out the options from Nike ACG; as the brand has pivoted back towards '90s-inspired styles—the fleece quarter zip has emerged as both a new and vintage option.

For a "fashion" quarter-zip or quarter-snap fleece, there's none more geared toward modern shoppers than Kapital. As the brand has swelled in popularity recently, its Damask fleece jackets are a street style standard.

In many respects, the quarter opening sweater is a relative of the anorak jacket and, as such, it has been co-opted outside of the outdoors, namely by skaters in the ’90s and ’00s. Recent iterations by Dime, Stussy and Supreme are proof of the garment’s importance within the skateboarding landscape.

Recommended Brands
$: The North Face, Patagonia, Nike ACG
$$: Dime, Stussy, Supreme
$$$: Acne Studios, Kapital

Cable knit sweaters, as we know them, originated in the late 19th century, on the Aran Islands, just west of mainland Ireland. Tightly woven, Aran jumpers were designed to withstand harsh working conditions—they’re famously durable and water-resistant.

Between the two World Wars, the intricately knit sweaters began appearing in mainland Ireland and, eventually, throughout Great Britain. It wasn’t until the 1950s that Aran jumpers moved stateside, appearing in Vogue, in 1958. It was at that time that they became known as cable knit sweaters, a reference to the thick strands of wool visible to the naked eye. Unlike traditional Aran jumpers, cable knit sweaters are not as tightly woven—a necessary sacrifice to reduce the time needed to knit each sweater.

As far as menswear is concerned, the cable knit sweater is synonymous with men at sea and a particular cast of style icons from the ’60s and ’70s—Steve McQueen, again. McQueen, in particular, popularized the cable knit sweater as a casual standalone garment for American men—a stark contrast to its workwear-adjacent status on the Aran Islands and bourgeois standing in Europe.

Recommended Brands
$: Brooks Brothers, L.L. Bean
$$: Inis Meain, S.N.S. Herning, Maison Kitsune
$$$: A.P.C., Thom Browne

Cashmere is and has always represented the pinnacle of luxury. Extravagantly soft and incredibly warm, cashmere gets its name from Kashmir, the region where the hair of the Capra Hircus goat was first processed to create the textile. Cashmere is pricey because the process required to create it is extensive: The raw wool is collected from the goats and then dehaired, mechanically, to remove a coarse “guard” layer and leave only the softest fibres that will ultimately become cashmere.

The use of cashmere likely dates back to the 13th century, when Marco Polo observed what was likely the domestication of Capra Hircus goats for the harvesting of their wool. It was only in the 18th century that cashmere began to be traded—namely within France—and became popular amongst the upper-class outside of Asia.

Given its softness and warmth, cashmere has traditionally been associated with sweaters and cardigans. While brands are today making more varied use of the delicate textile, its inherent rarity and exclusivity makes it a particularly popular material for luxury sweaters.

Recommended Brands
$: Uniqlo
$$: Massimo Alba, Rick Owens
$$$: Brunello Cucinelli, The Elder Statesman, Loro Piana, Prada

Mohair is another textile that is often associated with sweaters and cardigans—not to mention wealth and comfort. Made using the hair of the Angora goat, mohair is known for its sheen and soft, almost silk-like texture. Despite these seemingly delicate characteristics, mohair is resilient and warm.

But, above all else, mohair is known for its distinct look. Mohair take colored dye extremely well, giving mohair sweaters an unparalleled color spectrum, while the almost hairy, fuzz-like finish and sheen make the colorful sweaters look surreal. With a vintage look and luxurious feel, this is one of the more offbeat (but top-notch) sweater types to add to your cold weather rotation.

Recommended Brands
$: Supreme, Undercover
$$: Marni, Needles, Acne Studios
$$$: Saint Laurent, Jil Sander