Take My Hand Cottage Cardigan

$148.00

Crafted from cozy printed cotton & spandex and lined with super soft poly-fleece, our Cottage Jackets combine the warmth and comfort of a cardigan with the style, versatility, and look of our Stardusters. They are washable, and include patch pockets. After many months of development, we're so excited to welcome this special new piece to our collection for cooler days!

About the Print:

A splendid and wholly original ode to friendship, this lighthearted design has quickly become one of our very favourites! We combined several pieces of art in the tradition of Victorian collage — including a remarkably detailed engraving of clasped hands, sun rays, and a buckled satchel from 1626, a painted heart from a seventeenth-century colour chart, and flowers from an 1800’s lithograph. The banners on the front reads, in both English and French, “La vie n’est rien sans l’amitié — Life is nothing without friendship”. The trim combines more hand-coloured 1800’s florals collaged together. The resulting print is so fresh and joyful — and unlike anything we’ve made before.

Cotton/spandex blend outer, lined in poly fleece. Machine wash gentle or handwash, gently reshape and lay flat to dry.

Cardigan measurements: length approximately 65cm, width (across back, underarm to underarm) approximately 74cm. Model is 5’7” for reference.

“What are hands made for but this? For holding. For holding on.”

- James Patterson

“A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.”

- D. Roberts

“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon.”

- Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat

How To Wear

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Our Cottage Cardi is so cool & versatile, you’ll be reaching for it again and again…whether you’re out running errands on a chilly day, or getting cozy at home with a good book. Layer it with jeans & a turtleneck, pack it along on your weekend getaway for a light jacket, or pop it on over your solid basics to instantly elevate them.  Our Take My Hand Cottage Cardi is both joyful and subtle, with an easy colour palette of charcoal, cream, and beige.  We’ll be wearing it over olive green in the Fall, and brightening it up with mustard yellow and pink in the Spring months! Our favourite look?  A white button down shirt, jeans and sneakers!  Effortless and stylish ;)

Our Muse

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The true friend, the kind hearted. Women who lift up the ones they love, who are always there when it matters. Women with an open hand, and an open heart.

More Inspo

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It’s amazing to think that the art we used to create this wonderful design spans more than three centuries! The Flemish engravings, created in the 1600’s, depict symbols of co-operation and charity, while the colourful flowers and hummingbirds come from British lithographs that were made almost two hundred years later. And even the heart we added to this piece has its own history, coming from a seventeenth century French painter’s chart that was used to record the formulas for how to mix paint colours. The motto, “La vie n’est rien sans l’amitié — Life is nothing without friendship”, was borrowed from an engraving on the inside of a French bracelet from the same era. Fast forward to the current century, where we brought all of these marvellous works of art together to make Take My Hand! Talk about a long time in the making ;)

The Poem

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Just for a moment, empty 
your hands. Set down 
the ghost of every brick 
you carry, the ones 
you built your dreams with 
and the ones you threw 
at your own windows. 

Hush. The world is wide
and full of things to hold
and let go of. Some truths
you’ll only know by touch:
taut skin of tulips or apples, 
animal warmth, the curved 
spine of feathers.

Others you’ll just know. 
Love is heavy 
and weightless, the hummingbird
flies against all odds, 
every minute its heart beats 
a thousand times. Broken
windows will let in light.
And even if your open hand
holds nothing 
but a question,
my hand will answer.