That $300 Wool Sweater Has Nothing on Vintage GAP
35+ sweaters made of 100% natural fibers that might have been folded by your mom
My mom worked at the1 GAP in college, folding baby clothes and white t-shirts in her employee-discounted light wash tapered jeans. Muscle memory has her hands still folding the GAP way. She tried to teach me the technique as a kid, but I just couldn’t get the reps necessary to achieve that level of angular, unwrinkled perfection.
I inherited a few pieces she collected while working there along with a deep love for that scratchy square navy blue tag and the pieces it’s sewn into: chunky knits, colorful stripes, a pink fleece sweatshirt with a sparkly logo on the chest that I wore on my 8th birthday at Legoland.
A few years ago while visiting my mom, I fished an ‘80s GAP shetland wool number out of a flea market $5 bin. A piece that pre-dates her work there and has a few charming little holes to show for it. Its varsity stripes and coarse ribbed cuffs make me feel like I’m studying for a classics exam in a snowed-in university library, Richard Papen style.
This sweater too, at one point, was folded by someone else’s mom <3
Today’s letter is a dregs-of-winter edition honoring my favorite secondhand search term for 100% natural fibers goodies at the best prices. It’s a smorgasbord of vintage GAP: 37 sweaters made of 100% natural fibers, from $10-$76 (& I finally found another agnès b.-style snap button cardigan like the butter yellow one I wrote about last summer).
100% cotton bubblegum turtleneck, $35
100% wool speckled v-neck jumper, $36
100% cotton floral turtleneck, $26
100% shetland wool sunshine jumper, $42
