Forget Basic Thermals—Stay Warm and Stylish This Winter With These Impeccably Chic Turtlenecks

From Steve Jobs’s iconic Issey Miyake iterations to Audrey Hepburn’s Greenwich Village gamine chic look from Funny Face, there’s no denying the enduring appeal of a turtleneck. A winter basic that is anything but boring, turtlenecks serve both functional and aesthetic purposes in a well-edited wardrobe.

With a sleek shape and warming effect, it gives any look an incredibly practical and polished slant. Boasting a sculpting bodice that clings to your mid-section and a high neckline that can gather from the base of your collarbone to the top of your chin, the silhouette reads as modern, cerebral and incredibly put-together.

To some, the idea of a top that inadvertently accentuates your jawline is one that shouldn’t be entertained. But you only need to look at the legion of tasteful adopters who have embraced this trend to realise there’s nothing to be afraid of.

If it’s good enough for Sharon Tate in the swinging ‘60s, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, and Nadja Auermann in the legendary Versace campaign shot by Richard Avedon in the early ‘90s and archival Gap holiday collections from the ‘00s, it’s good enough for us, right?

I do say this with a slight element of bias, especially as a long-standing turtleneck supporter. As a precocious teenager, my own personal uniform included an American Apparel burgundy turtleneck and black pleated skirt, which was a far departure from the raw-hem Billabong shorts and Ripcurl tank tops my contemporaries were wearing as adolescents growing up in Sydney’s beachside suburbs.

As out of place as this looked in this setting, it felt right for me as someone whose gospel was Old Céline, Lorde’s Pure Heroine and the iconography of Tumblr circa 2014. Of the former, it really was Phoebe Philo’s designer off-duty wardrobe that helped catapult the look to the mainstream with her distinctly artistic take on normcore dressing.

Unpretentious and utilitarian, it was these endorsements that showcased the endless styling potential of a turtleneck. Layered under a button-up shirt and blazer, they become something powerful and sleek à la Lydia Tár’s sharp tailoring in Todd Field’s 2022 psychological thriller. Worn under a graphic t-shirt, like Alexa Chung did recently, they’re transformed again into something unfussy and riddled with cool girl sleaze. Worn on their own, they’re more preppy and prim, but certainly still charming thanks to the origins of the trend. All this to say, investing in a turtleneck is never an unwise choice.