Review: Aqua Kiddie Cashmere from Bloomingdales

While buying the Theory cocktail dress, I also picked out some cashmere sweaters from the little girls' department to try on. Kids sizing is hit or miss on me. The most common problem is the "short n' wide" cut, which is flattering on 8 year old girls, but not so much on a grown woman. I've had luck with Abercrombie kids which is usually cut very slim ... but they slap that moose logo on everything so I've had to shop elsewhere.

1. Aqua girls ruffle cashmere cardigan:

Aqua girls ruffled cashmere cardigan, $88 $42 (Sold out online, but still in stores)

And here is the grown-ups version:

Aqua ruffled cashmere cardigan, $148 $82.48

The kids' version of this cardigan looks quite similar to the adult one, except that it's half the price. In the stock photo, the cut looked slim enough, and the proportions seemed right with the 3/4 length sleeves hitting at the waist. After much mulling over the kids size chart, I ended up ordering a Large in both colors. Here's the cream:

Pardon the yucky baggy leggings and too-short tank. With leggings, I always try to wear a top long enough to cover the crotch, but clothing items are limited back home. And now the black:

Click "Read More" to see the problem with this cardigan.

The sweater looks okay in the above photos, because I scrunched the sleeves up as far as they would go. Although they made the cardigan look slim in the stock photo, the cut in person was undeniably "childrens fit."

Stock photo ------------------> My photo

The torso was more rotund than pictured, and the sleeve proportions were several inches off. Makes me wonder where they even get the stock photo? Instead of a cute 3/4 length, the sleeves on my cardigan were awkward... hitting an inch short of the wrist. The entire sleeve down to the wrist opening was also quite baggy:

I'm sure the sleeves on a kids Medium would fit better, but then the sweater length would be shorter, too. Alas, both of these ruffled cardigans are going back to Bloomingdales.

2. Aqua girls cashmere open cardigan:

Aqua girls cashmere open cardigan, $68 $32 (Also sold out online, but still in stores)

And the big people's version:

Aqua cashmere bolero cardigan, $148 $76.80

This cardigan has a cozy and simple cocoon shape, and fit just as expected. I can see myself wearing this over dresses and tanks to work on business casual days : )

Ann Taylor ruffle tank sz XS, H&M kids skinny jeans sz 11/12, Nine West patent pumps

The size I am wearing above is a girls Large. While in the store, I also tried on a girls Medium and X-Large. The medium was a little too snug, and the X-Large fit more like the gray womens' sweater pictured above. I opted to keep the Large. Success!