fashionista-ta
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I was rather surprised to see what Suzy says it is ... a patterned sweater?!?!
I would have said definitely jacket, and a case could be made for a coat like the fur-trimmed Balenciaga that made such a splash ...
But this came from out of left field ... what do you think?
iht.com
Knitwear's third dimension
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
LONDON A chest full of patterns - diamonds, stripes, color blocks and images - has brought the graphic sweater back into fashion. Not since the 1970s has patterned knitwear been the key piece of the autumn season for both the male and female wardrobe.
But even when the Fair Isle stitch craft or kooky graphics of those hippie years are revisited, there is a marked difference: Texture is brought into play. The mix of fibers - wool, mohair, cotton, nylon or even strands of fur - add a third dimension to pattern and silhouette.
After a long period when the simply cut cashmere sweater or cardigan was a staple piece, there are now myriad variations, most of them confirming a focus on waist and midriff, for both sexes. Forget the sheltering sweater to cuddle up in and conceal the body. Instead, knitwear clings close to the torso, ends above the hips and can be worn under a sharp, short jacket. Or, on the female side, there are boleros and shoulder shrugs.
Whereas knitwear in the past has often focused on individually created pieces that have even aspired to wearable art, today's offerings are more straightforward. Although intarsia - the technique of weaving patterns on a loom into a sweater - remains an exalted and expensive craft, it is now just the high-end, luxury version of more affordable graphics. Even the Scottish cashmere houses such as Pringle and Ballantyne produce their diamond patterns or images (from roses to golfers) both in intarsia and in factory machine versions.
Historically, patterned sweaters have been both maritime work wear and couture creations. Four centuries before the microfiber parka was invented, a 1558 shipwreck from the Spanish Armada brought the sailors' rich patterns of Moorish and Catholic Spain to the tiny Scottish island of Fair Isle. Similar folkloric strands have long been woven into Tyrolean and Central European knitwear and are constantly reworked, especially in the current era of computerized pattern making.
When Elsa Schiaparelli made a sweater with a trompe l'oeil bow a cute item for 1920s Ladies Who Lunched, she could never have imagined that it would found a dynasty of whimsical images. Now anything from a pearl necklace to a dachshund might appear on a sweater front. The current mood is for the freshness of fruit or vegetable symbols. But winter patterns are often much simpler: just checks and stripes in vivid or subtle mixes of color, once again on a fresh note. Black and white is a graphic and masculine solution, although there are also tangy mixes of lime green with orange or subtler sea blue and cream.
What do you wear with a patterned sweater? The Bohemian look, still around during this autumn season, encourages a mix of prints, as in a patchwork or embroidered skirt with colorful knitwear. But the most easygoing partner for a graphic torso is a pair of classic blue jeans, perhaps cropped short, just as pants always were in that age-old maritime tradition.
I would have said definitely jacket, and a case could be made for a coat like the fur-trimmed Balenciaga that made such a splash ...
But this came from out of left field ... what do you think?
iht.com
Knitwear's third dimension
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
LONDON A chest full of patterns - diamonds, stripes, color blocks and images - has brought the graphic sweater back into fashion. Not since the 1970s has patterned knitwear been the key piece of the autumn season for both the male and female wardrobe.
But even when the Fair Isle stitch craft or kooky graphics of those hippie years are revisited, there is a marked difference: Texture is brought into play. The mix of fibers - wool, mohair, cotton, nylon or even strands of fur - add a third dimension to pattern and silhouette.
After a long period when the simply cut cashmere sweater or cardigan was a staple piece, there are now myriad variations, most of them confirming a focus on waist and midriff, for both sexes. Forget the sheltering sweater to cuddle up in and conceal the body. Instead, knitwear clings close to the torso, ends above the hips and can be worn under a sharp, short jacket. Or, on the female side, there are boleros and shoulder shrugs.
Whereas knitwear in the past has often focused on individually created pieces that have even aspired to wearable art, today's offerings are more straightforward. Although intarsia - the technique of weaving patterns on a loom into a sweater - remains an exalted and expensive craft, it is now just the high-end, luxury version of more affordable graphics. Even the Scottish cashmere houses such as Pringle and Ballantyne produce their diamond patterns or images (from roses to golfers) both in intarsia and in factory machine versions.
Historically, patterned sweaters have been both maritime work wear and couture creations. Four centuries before the microfiber parka was invented, a 1558 shipwreck from the Spanish Armada brought the sailors' rich patterns of Moorish and Catholic Spain to the tiny Scottish island of Fair Isle. Similar folkloric strands have long been woven into Tyrolean and Central European knitwear and are constantly reworked, especially in the current era of computerized pattern making.
When Elsa Schiaparelli made a sweater with a trompe l'oeil bow a cute item for 1920s Ladies Who Lunched, she could never have imagined that it would found a dynasty of whimsical images. Now anything from a pearl necklace to a dachshund might appear on a sweater front. The current mood is for the freshness of fruit or vegetable symbols. But winter patterns are often much simpler: just checks and stripes in vivid or subtle mixes of color, once again on a fresh note. Black and white is a graphic and masculine solution, although there are also tangy mixes of lime green with orange or subtler sea blue and cream.
What do you wear with a patterned sweater? The Bohemian look, still around during this autumn season, encourages a mix of prints, as in a patchwork or embroidered skirt with colorful knitwear. But the most easygoing partner for a graphic torso is a pair of classic blue jeans, perhaps cropped short, just as pants always were in that age-old maritime tradition.
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