Cardigan (sweater)

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A cardigan is a type of sweater/jumper with buttons or zips down the front; by contrast, a pullover does not open in front, but forms a solid tube around the torso. The cardigan was named after James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British military commander, during his service in the Crimean War. It is usually machine- or hand-knitted from wool or cotton. Cardigans are available for both sexes but are more typically worn by women (e.g., the classic twinset) and by more fashionably "cool" men, especially indie rockers. Cardigans are also popular in twee fashion.

1 Knitting and design
2 Cardigans in popular culture
3 Notable wearers of cardigans
4 See also

[edit] Knitting and design

The torso of a cardigan is often knit as a single piece in a simple back-and-forth manner. By contrast, knitting a pullover as a single piece requires circular knitting. Alternatively, the body of the cardigan may be knit in three pieces, one for the back and two for the front.

Although all types of necklines are found in cardigans, the V-neckline is especially popular. The seam in front of a cardigan allows for many fashionable variations. For example, it need not be straight, but can cross diagonally (surplice style); it may also be lined with frills or cut away to form a bolero jacket.

[edit] Cardigans in popular culture

In an assassination attempt similar to the incident that took the life of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov, former Bulgarian state radio editor Vladimir Kostov survived an attack in Paris as he was leaving the subway when a Bulgarian secret agent injected into him a ricin-coated platinum pellet hidden in the tip of an umbrella. The agent failed to kill Kostov because the heavy woollen cardigan he was wearing that day kept the pellet from penetrating his skin too deeply.

In some South American countries, particularly Chile, a woman's cardigan is known as "chaqueta rebeca." The name derives from the film Rebecca (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, in which the character played by Joan Fontaine wore this type of sweater[1].