Like many garments, the history of the
sweater is mostly a functional in nature and the historical wearers of sweaters
were fishermen, who needed warm and hard-wearing garments to protect themselves
in the sea. As far back as the 15th century, fisherman’s wives from Guernsey in
the Channel Islands between Britain and France knitted “guernseys” with tightly
spun and knit wool, which by retaining its oil, protected against the cold even
when damp. As trade developed, the “Guernsey” was adopted and modified by
coastal communities across the British isles and North Sea. Called a “gansey”
by other communities, these sweaters were distinctively patterned across the
yoke and the neck finished with a short
collar and the cuffs were structured so that they could be easily
re-knitted.
Until the turn of the 20th century,
ganseys were hand-knitted or crocheted by a loved one and were still worn
almost exclusively as a working man’s garment, that is work on the upper part
of the body, either pulled over the head or buttoned down the front or back.
The use of the jersey spread throughout
Europe, especially among workingmen. In the 1890s it was adopted by athletes in
the United States and called a sweater. The first sweaters were heavy, dark
blue pullovers, worn before and after athletic contests to protect against
cold. By the 1920s designers such as Jeanne Lanvin and Gabrielle (“Coco”)
Chanel introduced sweaters into their collections. Throughout the 20th century,
sweaters in a variety of designs, knitted from natural and synthetic fibres, were worn by men, women,
and children.
