A letter from June · Co-founder of June & Louise Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina · Fall 2026
A letter from the founderTwenty-Five Years of Keeping Women Warm. The Cardigan Is the One I Would Give You First.
There are thirty-one of them on our shelf for the Anniversary Sale, every one made to the same rules. If your closet gets one new layer before the cold settles in, here is why I think it should be a cardigan.
June & Louise started in 2001 as a little boutique in Charleston, opened by two best friends with shaking hands. Louise and I have known each other since high school, and we made one promise that first morning: comfort should never look like giving up. Twenty-five years later the standard is unchanged. If a piece does not keep that promise, we do not sell it.
The first cool mornings are not far off now. Here in the Lowcountry they arrive in October: a porch you can sit on before the sun is up and a warm afternoon after. Up in Michigan or out in Utah they mean rather more than that, and in Alabama they mean the ceiling fan finally goes off. Wherever you live, they catch most of us with the summer things still on the hook.
What people forget about early autumn is that it never settles. The porch before sunrise is chilly, the car at ten is warm, the restaurant is freezing, and by dusk you want a blanket. A pullover asks you to guess the whole day before it starts. A cardigan does not ask anything of you, because you can open it, close it, or take it off whenever the room changes.
So if you walked into the store and asked me for one thing, and only one, I would take you straight to the cardigan shelf. There are six reasons, and I will start with the one I mention most often.
It changes as the day changes
Barbara's routine, quoted below, is the one I hear about most, and it is mine as well. The morning walk wants it wrapped tight, the kitchen wants it open, and the porch at three does not want it at all. Ours lives on the chair by the back door from the first cool week until Easter; the heavy sweaters, by contrast, get one outing in January.
“Mine goes on at breakfast, comes off at lunch, and goes back on for the porch. I have stopped bothering with anything else.”
★★★★★“Mine goes on at breakfast, comes off at lunch, and goes back on for the porch. I have stopped bothering with anything else.”
Barbara K., Greenville, SC Verified buyer
Cuffs that stay where you push them
No sleeve in your closet gets shoved up as often as a cardigan sleeve. Dishes, hair, the oven door, the dog. Ours have a gentle stretch in the knit, so the cuff goes up your forearm and sits there, then settles back flat when you are done. No rolling, no tugging, no sleeve that slides to your wrist the moment you lift the kettle.
“I push them up to my elbows to wash my hair and they do not slide down. My old ones never managed that.”
★★★★★“I push them up to my elbows to wash my hair and they do not slide down. My old ones never managed that.”
Linda P., Dayton, OH Verified buyer
Plush warmth that does not weigh on you
The knit is plush, and soft in a way you notice the first time you pick it up. But it is light. It does not sit on your shoulders like a blanket. It breathes, so you can wear it through lunch in a warm restaurant and you will not be sticky under the arms by dessert. Warm outside, comfortable inside, nothing to shrug off in the car.
“Warm enough for the early service, and I did not have to peel it off when the sanctuary heated up.”
★★★★★“Warm enough for the early service, and I did not have to peel it off when the sanctuary heated up.”
Carolyn D., Fort Collins, CO Verified buyer
Open front, nothing to fuss with
There are no buttons on ours, and I mean that kindly. Nothing to line up, nothing to lose, nothing to catch on a seat belt. The front hangs open and drapes over whatever you already own, a blouse, a tee, a Sunday dress. Pull it closed when the wind picks up. Let it fall open when the room is warm.
“It goes over everything I already have. I wore it over my blue dress to church and over a tee the next morning.”
★★★★★“It goes over everything I already have. I wore it over my blue dress to church and over a tee the next morning.”
Dorothy M., Macon, GA Verified buyer
Hangs all winter, holds its shape
A cardigan is the one thing in your closet that rarely sees a hanger or a drawer. It gets draped over the chair, slung over the banister, hung on the peg in the hall. Bargain knits sag at the shoulder within a season of that. Ours is knit with a gentle stretch that recovers every time you move. Come February the shoulders still sit exactly where they belong.
“Lived on the back of a chair all winter and the shoulders have not budged an inch.”
★★★★★“Lived on the back of a chair all winter and the shoulders have not budged an inch.”
Susan T., Chattanooga, TN Verified buyer
Thirty-one designs, one price, every size
Every one of these has its own name for a reason. Sadie, Rubie, Vivian, Natalia and the rest are thirty-one separate designs, not one shape in different shades. Each is cut in Small through 5XL and each keeps the same relaxed, vintage-inspired silhouette whatever size you pick. The 5XL tag reads $54.95 in the Anniversary Sale, exactly like the Small.
“I am a 3XL and it fits like it was cut for me, not just let out. I bought Vivian and then Sadie.”
★★★★★“I am a 3XL and it fits like it was cut for me, not just let out. I bought Vivian and then Sadie.”
Joanne R., Lexington, KY Verified buyer
Our cardigans against the ones you have been buying
Most of the reviews that mention an old cardigan mention the same handful of complaints, and after twenty-five years I could recite them in my sleep. The left column is what women write to me about the ones they gave up on. The right is what we do about each.
- Thin and cold by Thanksgiving
- Sleeves slide down every time you reach
- Damp under the arms indoors
- Shoulders stretch out within weeks
- Buttons that gap, pull, or vanish
- Ends at XL, or charges more past it
- Plush knit, wonderfully soft
- Lightweight but warm, and it breathes
- Open front, no buttons to fuss with
- Gentle stretch that comes back
- Drapes over blouses, tees, and dresses
- Thirty-one designs, S through 5XL, one price
A pullover commits you before you have left the house. A cardigan lets the weather have the last word, which is the whole argument in one sentence.
Why the cardigans are 70% off
June & Louise is twenty-five years old this year. Louise and I are still in Charleston, still best friends, and still a little surprised that the women who walked into our boutique that first year kept coming back, and brought their daughters.
For the anniversary, every one of the thirty-one cardigan designs, in every size from Small to 5XL, is $54.95 in the Anniversary Sale. We have always marked our anniversary the same way, not with a party for us but with a gift for you. It is not a promotion we keep running all year round.
We are not restocking anything for this. Many designs are already in their final quantities, and once a design is out of your size, that is it at this price. When the Anniversary Sale ends, the tag returns to $182.95.
We are not making much at $43.96 apiece, which is what four come to, and for our twenty-fifth anniversary we are fine with that. The extra discount is applied automatically at checkout and combines with anything else in the store; no code needed.
★★★★★“Ordered on a Tuesday, it was on my doormat by Friday. Folded neatly, packed with care, a little note tucked on top. It looked like a gift, not a delivery.”
Nancy F., Richmond, VA Verified buyer
Louise will tell you I own more of these than any sensible woman needs. Every one of them has gone soft at the elbows, which is the only way a cardigan should ever end up.
June · Co-founder, June & LouiseMore than 2,756 women have already left a review, and between them they average 4.7 stars. They are saying what I have just said, only shorter. Sizes are going quickly, so if a cardigan is on your list for the cold mornings ahead, I would not wait for the first frost.
— June
THE JUNE & LOUISE COZY VINTAGE CARDIGANS
- Plush, lightweight warmth that breathes
- Open front that drapes over anything you own
- Free UPS shipping and a 30-day money-back guarantee
Stack and save: buy 2 save 10%, buy more and save up to 25% extra.
SEE WHICH CARDIGANS ARE STILL IN YOUR SIZE