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How to dress like a gentleman- A guide on the history of knitwear and how to dress like a true gent
KNITWEAR
HISTORY
Knitting might be said to have been invented by whoever first fashioned a cat’s cradle or fishing net.
This puts its origins back to the Stone Age, or earlier.
Knitting is the process of producing fabric by interlocking loops of yarn or thread, as distinct from the
interlacing process that is weaving. Whereas weaving looms have existed since prehistoric times, the
first advance beyond knitting by hand was not achieved until 1589, when a Cambridge divine named
William Lee invented a contraption to knit his socks.
A ribbing device followed in 1758 and a warp-knit-ting machine in 1775, but there was no major
improvement on the Lee system until the 1860s, when William Cotton, also a Briton, devised a
powered knitting machine able to put shape into the fabric it was forming.
Factory knitwear was first concentrated upon sporting uses. In 1900, the Tailor and Cutter decried a
knitted sweater for cyclists as “neither smart nor sightly” and warned that any man found wearing one
ran the risk of being taken for “a bounder”. Advertisements about that time offered jerseys ‘suitable
for football and rowing’ in stripes or plain. Such jerseys were long-sleeved with a roll collar.
It took the traumatic effects of World War I to liberate attitudes sufficiently for casual knitwear to gain
full acceptance as proper accoutrement for the gentleman. Knitted waistcoats, often in canary
yellow, were much in evidence in 1920. Some dashing fellows did away with the waistcoat altogether
and sported beneath their jackets something new, the V-neck woolly pullover.
The prince of this new informality was the Prince of Wales himself. It was rumoured, even , that he
was able to knit his own, though not surely the multi-coloured Fair Isle pullover in Shetland wool with
a jigsaw pattern that he later reflected was “the most showy of all my garments”. He first wore it in
1922, at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland, and he was fond enough of it to
have his portrait painted in it more than once. What so pleased the Prince could not but please his
subjects. Shetland wool pullovers in Fair Isle patterns became immensely popular, particularly among
golfers, who wore them with plus-fours and a tweed cap. (Those straining to define a difference
between ‘pullover’ and ‘sweater’ may be intrigued to learn that sweater is the older term, dating from
1882. Pullover did not appear in the Oxford English Dictionary until 1925, at the height of the Fair
Isles fad.)
White or cream V-necks with club colours knitted into neck and hem were a standard accompaniment
to sports jackets, blazers, or tweed lounge suits through the 1930s, and sleeveless, close-fitting
slipovers became established waistcoat substitutes for informal wear. As a signature image of the
iner-war years, the diamond-plaid pattern known as argyle was applied to every description of
knitwear, from sweaters to socks and even gloves.
Polo-neck and crew-neck sweaters, at first in heavy wools only, began to be seen in numbers from
the late 1940s. A decade later came the bulking-up of sweaters and cardigans, worn much larger
and looser than before. The plain polo-neck made its statement, often worn under a V-neck sweater
or sports jacket to dispense with shirt, collar and tie. The knitted sports shirt, often half-sleeved, was
another popular innovation, substituting for either regular shirt or sweater.
This post World War II period saw the development of knitwear on a grand scale. This response to an
insatiable demand for leisure wear was made possible by the introduction of new man-made fibres
and fabrics and new knitting machinery.
The 1960s have been called the decade of the knits. By its end, knitwear featured in every category
of menswear, with the new machines creating knitted jackets, trousers, coats, and all manner of
knitted accessory. Double-knit suits in polyester and wool or linen mixes made their début with the
1970s.
Traditional knitwear styles were enhanced by the flair of Italian designers such as the Missonis, who
fully exploited the virtuosity of the new machinery. Subtle patterns in myriad colours delighted those
who could afford them, much as the fancy Fair Isles had delighted the Prince.
HISTORY
Knitting might be said to have been invented by whoever first fashioned a cat’s cradle or fishing net.
This puts its origins back to the Stone Age, or earlier.
Knitting is the process of producing fabric by interlocking loops of yarn or thread, as distinct from the
interlacing process that is weaving. Whereas weaving looms have existed since prehistoric times, the
first advance beyond knitting by hand was not achieved until 1589, when a Cambridge divine named
William Lee invented a contraption to knit his socks.
A ribbing device followed in 1758 and a warp-knit-ting machine in 1775, but there was no major
improvement on the Lee system until the 1860s, when William Cotton, also a Briton, devised a
powered knitting machine able to put shape into the fabric it was forming.
Factory knitwear was first concentrated upon sporting uses. In 1900, the Tailor and Cutter decried a
knitted sweater for cyclists as “neither smart nor sightly” and warned that any man found wearing one
ran the risk of being taken for “a bounder”. Advertisements about that time offered jerseys ‘suitable
for football and rowing’ in stripes or plain. Such jerseys were long-sleeved with a roll collar.
It took the traumatic effects of World War I to liberate attitudes sufficiently for casual knitwear to gain
full acceptance as proper accoutrement for the gentleman. Knitted waistcoats, often in canary
yellow, were much in evidence in 1920. Some dashing fellows did away with the waistcoat altogether
and sported beneath their jackets something new, the V-neck woolly pullover.
The prince of this new informality was the Prince of Wales himself. It was rumoured, even , that he
was able to knit his own, though not surely the multi-coloured Fair Isle pullover in Shetland wool with
a jigsaw pattern that he later reflected was “the most showy of all my garments”. He first wore it in
1922, at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland, and he was fond enough of it to
have his portrait painted in it more than once. What so pleased the Prince could not but please his
subjects. Shetland wool pullovers in Fair Isle patterns became immensely popular, particularly among
golfers, who wore them with plus-fours and a tweed cap. (Those straining to define a difference
between ‘pullover’ and ‘sweater’ may be intrigued to learn that sweater is the older term, dating from
1882. Pullover did not appear in the Oxford English Dictionary until 1925, at the height of the Fair
Isles fad.)
White or cream V-necks with club colours knitted into neck and hem were a standard accompaniment
to sports jackets, blazers, or tweed lounge suits through the 1930s, and sleeveless, close-fitting
slipovers became established waistcoat substitutes for informal wear. As a signature image of the
iner-war years, the diamond-plaid pattern known as argyle was applied to every description of
knitwear, from sweaters to socks and even gloves.
Polo-neck and crew-neck sweaters, at first in heavy wools only, began to be seen in numbers from
the late 1940s. A decade later came the bulking-up of sweaters and cardigans, worn much larger
and looser than before. The plain polo-neck made its statement, often worn under a V-neck sweater
or sports jacket to dispense with shirt, collar and tie. The knitted sports shirt, often half-sleeved, was
another popular innovation, substituting for either regular shirt or sweater.
This post World War II period saw the development of knitwear on a grand scale. This response to an
insatiable demand for leisure wear was made possible by the introduction of new man-made fibres
and fabrics and new knitting machinery.
The 1960s have been called the decade of the knits. By its end, knitwear featured in every category
of menswear, with the new machines creating knitted jackets, trousers, coats, and all manner of
knitted accessory. Double-knit suits in polyester and wool or linen mixes made their début with the
1970s.
Traditional knitwear styles were enhanced by the flair of Italian designers such as the Missonis, who
fully exploited the virtuosity of the new machinery. Subtle patterns in myriad colours delighted those
who could afford them, much as the fancy Fair Isles had delighted the Prince.
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