Choosing a neckline
V-Neck vs Crew Neck: Which Cashmere Sweater?
Decide it at the collar, not in the mirror. A crew neck is a closed ring sitting on the collarbone, so anything with a stiff collar has to ride on top of it. A V-neck is an open notch that starts below the collarbone, so a collar drops inside the opening and stays where you put it. If you button a shirt to the top — with or without a tie — buy the V-neck. If you mostly wear a T-shirt, a soft collar left open, or nothing at all underneath, buy the crew. And if the honest answer is “both, depending on the day”, the one that changes shape is the quarter zip.
The one difference that matters: what happens to a collar
Both necklines are the same fibre, the same workshop and the same price. The only thing being decided is the geometry at the top of the garment, and that geometry has one real consequence: where a shirt collar ends up.
A crew opening is a continuous ring finished in rib, sitting at the base of the neck. A shirt collar cannot pass through a ring, so it has to sit outside it. That is fine when the sweater is cut with enough room at the opening — ours is cut so the band lies flat over a collar rather than shoving it — but the collar is still on the outside, and the points have nowhere to go but outward. Add a tie and you have a knot trapped between two layers of fabric that both want the same centimetre of space. That is the failure mode, and it is why men who wear ties do not buy crews.
A V opening is a notch, not a ring. The two edges run down from the shoulders and meet at a point below the collarbone. A shirt collar falls into that space, the collar points cross underneath it, and a tie knot sits in open fabric with air around it. Everything about the V is built for the thing you put inside it. That is also its weakness: the opening is a frame, and a frame with nothing in it looks like a frame with nothing in it. Once a jacket goes over the top, the knot, the collar and the lapel are all competing for the same few centimetres, which is set out on Wearing a Sweater Under a Blazer (and Suit).
Neckline geometry is not a detail people ignore, either. Reviewers in this category check it explicitly before buying — several ask, in as many words, whether the crew opening will take a collar and tie. It is a stated purchase criterion, not an afterthought.
Layering, which is really a question about jackets
The second question is what goes over the sweater, and here the two necklines separate again — for a reason that has nothing to do with warmth.
A tailored jacket already draws a V. Its lapels open into one, and that V is the strongest line in the outfit. Put a crew neck under it and you have one V — the jacket's — with a clean horizontal band closing the picture underneath. Put a V-neck under it and you have a second, narrower V nested inside the first, and if there is a shirt collar in there too, a third. None of that is wrong. It is just busier, and busier is harder to get right. If you own one sweater to wear under a sport coat, make it the crew — and check the chest and sleeve against the jacket before you buy, which is the first thing How to Wear a Sport Coat with a Sweater asks you to do.
Under an overcoat the calculation inverts. An overcoat closes high, so what matters is bare neck between the coat collar and the sweater. The crew covers more of it. The V leaves a wedge that you will end up filling with a scarf, which is a fine solution as long as you know you are buying into it.
Over a T-shirt, or against the skin
This is the case most men are actually in most days, and it is the one the comparison tends to skip. Matching the layer to the opening — which tee neckline, which collar, or nothing at all — is worked through on What to Wear Under a Sweater.
- Crew over a T-shirt: the sweater's band sits above the T-shirt's neckline and hides it completely. Nothing to think about.
- V-neck over a crew-neck T-shirt: the T-shirt's round neckline cuts straight across the V. Two competing shapes, and the most common way this pairing goes wrong.
- V-neck over nothing: a bare triangle. Some people wear it deliberately; most find it reads as a sweater missing its shirt.
- Crew over nothing: works, and it is the reason the crew is the safer single purchase.
There is a fit consequence too. A crew band sits at a fixed height whatever your neck is doing, so on a short neck or heavy shoulders it can look like it is riding up. The V's opening runs vertically and buys some length back in the picture without changing the fit of the garment at all. If a crew has ever felt like it was closing in on you, that is what the V is fixing.
The third option this comparison usually leaves out
Both necklines are fixed. You choose the shape in the shop and you live with it. The quarter zip is the only one of the three that adjusts, and that puts it in a different category rather than simply between the other two.
Its collar is a funnel neck — a standing collar that does not fold and does not touch the throat — with a zip down the front of it. Zipped to the top it closes into a full column and is the warmest thing in this range at the neck. Half open, the collar splits into two short lapels and reads as a shallow V. Fully open it lies flat and behaves like a wide crew. One garment, three shapes, decided at eleven o'clock in the morning rather than at checkout.
The trade is real and worth stating plainly: it comes in one free size and one colour, and the standing collar is the worst of the three under a sport coat, because it sits exactly where the jacket collar wants to be. It is also $120 rather than $155. If the neckline is the interesting part, the funnel neck has its own page: Funnel Neck Sweaters for Men.
Side by side
- Price
- $155 both
- Sizes
- S–2XL both
- Colourways
- 14 vs 13
- Photographed
- 14 vs 11
| Crew Neck | V-Neck | Quarter Zip | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neckline shape | Closed ring at the collarbone | Open notch below it | Standing funnel with a zip |
| What happens to a shirt collar | Rides on the outside | Drops inside the opening | Covered when zipped |
| With a tie | The knot is crowded | The reason it exists | No |
| Over a T-shirt | Hides the neckline | Shows it, and they clash | Yes |
| On its own | Yes | Bare triangle | Best of the three |
| Under a sport coat | Cleanest line | Busier — a V inside a V | Bulky at the neck |
| Under an overcoat | More neck covered | Wants a scarf | Warmest zipped |
| Adjustable | No | No | Yes |
| Colours | 14 | 13 | 1 |
| Sizes | S–2XL | S–2XL | One free size |
| Price | $155 | $155 | $120 |
What is identical, and why that simplifies the choice
It is worth being explicit about how much is not in play. The Men's Crew Neck Cashmere Sweater and the Men's V-Neck Cashmere Sweater are the same 100% Grade A Himalayan cashmere at 12–16 micron, knitted in the same Pokhara workshop, in the same size range, at the same $155. The colour palettes are the same except for one shade: Sand exists on the crew and not on the V-neck, which is 14 colourways against 13.
So nothing rides on this decision except the neckline. There is no cheaper one, no warmer fibre, no better-made version. That is unusual, and it means you can make the choice purely on how you intend to wear it and stop second-guessing the rest.
Both will pill a little in the first two or three wears, as short surface fibres work loose, and both settle after that — here is why, and what to do about it.
If you still cannot decide
Buy the crew. Not because it is better, but because its advantage shows up every day and the V-neck's advantage only shows up on the days you wear a collar. If those days are most days, you already know the answer and it is the V. If you had to think about it, they are not most days.
And if what you actually want is more warmth at the throat than either gives you, neither of these is the answer — the funnel neck is.
The three sweaters this compares. Same fibre, same workshop, same care. Free worldwide shipping over $100.
Full measurements, colourways and specification live on each page: Men's Crew Neck Cashmere Sweater, Men's V-Neck Cashmere Sweater and Men's Quarter Zip Cashmere Sweater. Buying one for someone else? The sizing and colour questions are different enough to have their own page: Cashmere Gifts for Men.
Common questions
Is a V-neck or a crew neck sweater better for men?
Decide it at the collar rather than in the mirror. A crew neck is a closed ring at the base of the neck, so a stiff shirt collar has to ride on top of it. A V-neck is an open notch below the collarbone, so the collar drops inside it and stays put. If you button a shirt to the top, buy the V-neck. If you mostly wear a T-shirt or nothing under it, buy the crew.
Can you wear a V-neck sweater without a shirt underneath?
You can, but it is the configuration a V-neck is worst at. The opening exists to hold a collar, so with nothing in it you get a bare triangle and the sweater reads as unfinished. If you wear knitwear against the skin most of the time, the crew neck is the better buy at the same price.
Which is warmer, a V-neck or a crew neck?
The crew, and the reason is simply coverage: it closes across the collarbone where a V leaves an opening. Neither is close to a funnel neck zipped to the top, which is the warmest of the three at the throat.
Can you wear a crew neck sweater with a collared shirt?
Yes, and it is one of the most common ways men wear one. What decides whether it works is the sweater, not the shirt: a crew cut tight at the opening shoves the collar upward and splays the points. Ours is cut so the band sits flat over a shirt collar. It is still riding on the outside of the collar, which is why a tie under a crew is a fight.
What should you wear under a V-neck sweater?
A collared shirt, ideally one with enough collar structure to hold its shape inside the opening. A crew-neck T-shirt under a V-neck sweater is the most common way this combination goes wrong, because the T-shirt's round neckline cuts across the V and you end up with two competing shapes.
Is there an option other than a V-neck and a crew neck?
A quarter zip funnel neck, which is the only one of the three that changes shape. Zipped to the top it closes into a standing collar; half open it splits into a shallow V; fully open it lies flat like a wide crew. It is $120 rather than $155, but it comes in one free size and one colour.