winter necklines

Every time winter rolls around I look at all the sweaters in the shops and drool. I love a good sweater, and when it's snowy and cold there's nothing better than the warm wool to keep me warm. Inevitably about half the sweaters I like the looks of are turtlenecks, which almost immediately rules them out of my books.

Why? Well, a lot of reasons. I'm pretty busty, so a turtleneck tends to just make my boobs look busy with the way they fit close around the body and then right up to tight around the neck. Then there's the fact that I'm horribly claustrophobic, and a traditional turtleneck tends to get literally ripped apart within hours of wear. I can't stand having my neck constricted. (There's some history to that, but it's not really the point.

This would be why I'm so surprised that this year I seem to have come into possession of no less than four turtleneck inspired sweaters. This season the necks have loosened up and they seem more like shorter cowl necks, though it's still pretty clearly a turtleneck. It started with the strange almost shawl like neckline on the sweater I picked up a month or so ago. (It's this one.) After Christmas it continued though, as I needed to exchange some gifted sweaters that didn't fit for ones that did. Turtlenecks, almost without exception.

These turtlenecks have me swooning. Not only does the looser neck (like this) make them wearable in a physical comfort sense, but because the necks are lower and have more body they alleviate my other turtleneck concern. The way the necks fall creates some interest near the chest area, so I don't look like I have gianganta-boobs. It's a little more balanced for my body type.