Womens Top

Tucked, Half Tucked or Left Loose

The hem tells you how a top wants to be worn. A curved hem with side slits sits easily over the hips untucked, and it half tucks without bunching because the slits let the front and back move separately. A short knit that ends near the waistband needs no tucking at all and looks best over high-rise jeans or a skirt. The henley goes either way: tucked for a neat line at work, loose with the placket open on a Saturday.

The Neckline Comes First

• A henley placket opens from a closed crew to a soft V with a couple of buttons, so one top covers a tidy morning and a relaxed evening.
• A notched V-neck is a small split at the center of the neckline. It lengthens the neck and frames a pendant.
• A buttoned V-neck vest closes with shiny gold buttons that pick up gold jewelry, and its pocket flaps give it the look of a tiny jacket.
• A crew neck with cap sleeves is the sweater tee: the familiar t-shirt shape, knitted instead of cut from jersey, so it looks a step more dressed.

Texture Instead of Print

Almost none of these rely on a printed pattern. Interest comes from the knit itself: the grid of a waffle henley with a plaid panel across the back, pointelle stripes with tiny open holes, cream and blue patchwork with stitched star patches, wide color-block stripes. Texture photographs well and keeps looking fresh after washing, because there is no surface print to fade. The mirror disc top takes the idea furthest, with small reflective plates linked across an open mesh so it catches light from every angle.

What Goes Under and What Goes Over

The mesh top is worn over something, ideally a plain, close-fitting layer, since a pattern underneath competes with the discs, and it is built for a night out. The sweater tee and the striped knits are complete on their own. A henley layers well under an open cardigan or a shacket, with the buttons undone so the placket shows. When the weather turns, the patchwork star knit goes under a long coat and adds a flash of color at the cuffs and collar, right where the coat stops.

Build an Outfit Around One Top

Pick the top that suits most of your week, then let the bottom half stay simple: straight or wide-leg denim, a slim skirt, tailored pants. One good top worn three ways earns its place faster than three tops worn once. For more knit tops cut as true sweaters, the striped sweater page has the full range of stripes, and for the plain t-shirt end of the spectrum, the women's t-shirt pages explain how the women's cut is shaped.