How to wear a black v-neck sweater

When I was ironing yesterday, I realized, again, that my black v-neck sweater is perhaps the most frequently worn item in my closet in the cold weather.  While mine is cashmere, if I had to replace it, I'd probably opt for a very "flat" merino wool, or maybe Eileen Fisher's cotton/silk blend...

Mine is big enough to layer, but not so huge that it looks sloppy on it's own.  The v is low enough that a tee shirt peeks out when it's underneath, but if I wear the sweater alone I'm not risking a career-limiting move.

At it's most simple, the sweater, alone with a pair of simple jeans or khakis, is perfect:

Sweater – J. Crew, scarf – Tory Burch, jeans – Ralph Lauren, loafers – Stuart Weitzman, scarf – futabaya, khakis – Vince, oxfords - Repetto

And with a plain white cotton shirt, or silk blouse,anyone can wear it to work:

Sweater – J. Crew, white cotton shirt – Equipment, grey wool pants – Reiss, shoes – Salvatore Ferragamo, white silk blouse – Chloe, tweed skirt – Paule Ka, black tights – Missoni, pumps - Eickhoff

A tee shirt underneath is a great way to segue toward summer with white jeans:

Sweater – J. Crew, tee shirt – Proenza Schouler, white jeans – J. Crew, loafers – Elizabeth & James, blue tee shirt – Iris & Ink, blue flats – Kenneth Cole Reaction

With any other blouse, this sweater can give you a long monochromatic line with a dash of color or pattern near your face (and maybe some fun shoes...):

Sweater – J. Crew, dotted blouse – J. Crew, black pants – Stella McCartney, striped flats – Marc Jacobs, pink cotton blouse – Hugo, black skirt – Diane von Furstenberg, pumps – Jimmy Choo

This kind of sweater is very handy for toning down a busy patterned pant, or for serving as a backdrop for some amazing accessories:

Sweater – J. Crew, necklace – Kenneth Jay Lane, clutch – Talullah Tu, flowered pants – Paul Smith, pumps – Christian Louboutin, earrings – Yael & Tal, scarf – YuhOkano, tweed pants – Dolce & Gabbana, silver loafers – J. W. Anderson

This simplicity is particularly useful if you have a major statement skirt that is best balanced by something simple, but still gorgeous:

Sweater – J. Crew, necklace – Fossil, geometric print skirt – Peter Pilotto, pumps – Salvatore Ferragamo, lace bracelet – Aurelie Bidermann, lace trim leather skirt – Jason Wu, slingbacks – Miu Miu