Womens Clothing

The Perfect Travel Sweater: Royal Robbins Chenille Cardigan

December 10, 2013COMtnMom

Clothing companies that are born from an outdoor adventurer’s pursuit of finding comfortable, durable, useful and attractive clothes are typically my favorite brands.

Headquartered out of California, Royal Robbins definitely fits that bill, offering a complete outdoor & travel clothing line.

I tried out their Women’s Chenille Cardigan, and feel that in addition to being a great wardrobe staple… it makes pretty much the perfect travel sweater.

The Perfect Travel Sweater: Royal Robbins Chenille Cardigan

The Royal Robbins Chenille Cardigan comes in four colors, and is an incredibly soft, cozy delight. It’s quite warm, very comfortable to wear, and offers a number of great features.

First, why is this the perfect travel sweater? Chenille! Seriously, when was the last time you wore chenille? For me, it’s been awhile, and this high quality version won me over quickly. Despite what I anticipated, it’s not bulky at all. When folded, it’s both light and surprisingly compact.

It’s neutral and versatile enough to be the perfect warmth layer to add to your suitcase, able to throw on with just about anything. And here’s the kicker that I wouldn’t have believed until I saw it myself: It line-dried in less than 5 hours!

The washing instructions say “hand wash in cold”, but I’m not one to coddle my laundry. So I threw it in the washing machine (I’m wild & crazy like that) – on gentle cycle, cold. Then hung it up to dry. It washed absolutely beautifully! You can see there will be no pilling with this material. And I really was shocked when I touched it later that evening and realized it was completely dry already. We live in a dry climate, but still. That’s impressive. If it dried in 4 1/2 hours in a dry climate, it will easily dry for you overnight in just about any climate.

It’s a perfect length, with a varying ribbed pattern used on the sleeves, shoulders/collar, and bottom cuff to add interest. It closes with bronze metal snaps, on a strip of twill tape, for a unique and classy touch. I love this, over the classic boring use of buttons on a cardigan. Very cool.

While I expected a typical brown, the “Arrowhead” color I selected is a slightly different hue. I’d best describe it as having shades of taupe. You can see in my photo the difference between the Chenille Cardigan, and the traditional chocolate colored t-shirt I’m wearing underneath.

Royal Robbins Chenille Cardigan ~ The Fit

The fit of the Chenille Cardigan is true to size, with the body portion being nicely apportioned so that you’ve got some room, yet it’s still a flattering shape – you aren’t left swimming in a huge blob of a sweater.

I’m 5’10”, so I’d love it if the sleeves were just a teensie bit longer, but they will likely be perfect on most women.

And it does fit just a little snug through the shoulders – which was my only mild disappointment. But because the chenille is so stretchy and forgiving, I can still wear a t-shirt underneath and not have it interfere with the comfort. Not a show stopper, and again something that will be unique to each wearer.

All in all, this is an excellent sweater that I highly recommend for it’s appearance, quality construction, and great design. If you’re looking for a gift, any woman would be excited to slip on the Royal Robbins Chenille Cardigan.