the tings i see.

I have been reading this book, ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’ by Haruki Murakami (great book by the way, definitely worth a read if you have a chance), and somewhere half way through the main characters wife disappears.  Now, if you have read any Murakami you know that his writing is so effortlessly descriptive that it almost seems like he’s painting a picture.  He can spend two pages just putting into words how a character feels as the light changes in the room.  This being said, when the mans wife disappears he begins to think back and remember the early days of their relationship.  Murakami writes, “She could wear the plainest article of clothing and manage, with the roll of a sleeve or the curl of a collar, to transform it into something spectacular.”

These days, in the world of mens wear, the word sprezzatura, or the nonchalant imperfection of the italians, has become a hot button for anything cool.  There is definitely something to be said for style and putting together clothes coherently but, something I am personally only beginning to grasp is the skill of wearing clothes.  Not only how you put them on, or what you wear but, how you move in them.  How you connect with what your wearing so that it looks and feels as if it belongs there.

At this point I’m not sure if its something someone can cultivate or it comes from finding things that make you feel most comfortable or even if its learned but, there are few things more beautiful then someone who truly knows how to wear their clothes.  Once upon a time I was told, “you really can wear a pair of jeans,” and of course that is a hell of a compliment but, I think Im only starting to really understand what people see when they say things like that.

Its partially about attitude, its partially about fit, its partially about comfort, and its partially about nothing at all.

A hip length, open front sweater with a low neckline and some sort of closer down the front is so simple that its hard to imagine there being a time before it.  When it comes down to it the cardigan has probably been around in some form or another as long as knitting.  The name Cardigan, on the other hand, didn’t get coined until the mid 19th century.

Charge of the Light Brigade by Richard Caton Woodville

The British Major General James Thomas Brudenell, who was also the 7th Earl of Cardigan, was stationed in Crimea (that leg off the south of the Ukraine) in 1854 to defend the UKs interests in the declining Ottoman Empire from the Russians.  This engagement became known as the Crimean War.  The Major General was ordered to lead a doomed cavalry assault across a valley against a Russian cannon emplacement on high ground.  The casualty count was eulogized by Lord Alfred Tennyson in his poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade” and was stressed by the eye witness war correspondent William Russell with his reporting, “our Light Brigade was annihilated by their own rashness, and by the brutality of a ferocious enemy.”  Making it one of the most remembered battles of the war and Brudenell or the Earl of Cardigan, who survived, one of the important names and since the officers wore, what is remembered as, a type of knit and braided “sweater coat” trimmed with fur throughout the campaign, this garment gained the name Cardigan after Brudenells post.

By 1865 the Cardigan hit the ivy league in the form of the letter sweater.  The Harvard baseball team added the ‘H’ to the front of their jerseys and with the casual revolution pushing out the starched collars of 19th century edwardian fashion out it made room for 20th century school pride.  This look consisting of cardigans, button down collars, and  casual slacks became known as the prep look.  Soon everything from scarves, shirts, hats, socks, ties, sweaters, coats, and socks where being made with school colors in mind.

Beginning in the mid 20th century, with the rise of the atomic family and the suburbs, as fireplaces and gas space heaters were replaced by forced-air central heating, heavy indoor clothing became unnecessary. Heated automobiles and heated public transit made the bundling-up season shorter in much of the country.  The new cardigan sweater traveled easily without wrinkling, unlike the woolen blazers and cotton or linen suit coats it was quickly replacing in casual and fair weather conditions.

Mr. Rogers in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood with his famous cardigan and sneakers (1968-2001)

Finally we can’t mention cardigans without bring up Mr. Rogers, the beloved childrens TV host.  One man has never done more for the awareness of cardigans. Remember like everything there are good and bad cardigans and fit is all important.  The oversized ‘bag-lady’ cardigan has become popular for women and in hip hop but, if you want to look sharp wear it like a t-shirt.  Fit and just long enough to hit your belt.  There are many different kinds with collars, zippers, buttons, pockets and combinations of them and there are good in all as long as it fits.