Snake America: Edition 14
Snake is a bi-weekly email covering joints on eBay, Craigslist, YouTube, the analog world, along with errata, diet tips, etc.
Reader Jack was curious about "fall nautical-inspired wear (moderately heavy sweaters, I guess, but maybe jackets) that's preppy but WASP rustic; my mood board is mostly pictures of Ted Turner on Courageous:
..."
This is a flawless mood board and a great look but a tricky endeavor, because there's no consensus set-it-and-forget it sweater to buy here and no one knows what these sweaters are called, to start with. I think they're just "sweaters." ("I want a wool sweater, but a good one.") Some options almost do the trick, and I'll list them. I'll also explain why vintage is not the best course of action here.
Nautical inspired wear, preppy, but not rustic: Paul and Shark, and to a lesser extent, Stone Island, fit the bill. (Both are here.) Paul and Shark has a yachting collection, but it doesn't contain their sea-faring sweaters. Both brands hew to nautical themes--their sweaters at least look like they belong on a boat--but are closer to cold August nights on the Mediterranean and/or taking part in a soccer riot at Wembley in 1992, than, say, going port and tending to the anchor warp off Newport. Shark is an underrated brand, they have one store in the Upper East Side, near the Barbour store, and the knitwear has a nice shape to it, but is just a little loud (red and blue, lots of stripes, the buttons on the image above), to click for this look. Ted wouldn't. Stone Island's knits are the best out, in terms of heft, cut and quality, but there's always something a little wrong--external buttons, roll collars, strange ribbing on the shoulders--that makes it loud and unwearable. (Most Stone Island only works in theory, anyways, but this is another story.)
*This red one is nice.) I'm convinced that the Massimo Osti-era sweaters, from the 90s, are straight up Newfoundland sea gear. I remember an Arena Plus Homme editorial from around 2003 which proves this point. They're wearing Grundens yellow fishing suits and gnarled Stoneys. You can find good Stone Island gear at Lollipop, in Chelsea, and at Century 21--N.J. best, then Bay Ridge, then Ground Zero. But only two weeks out of the year and never in any good sizes. Anywhere selling Shadow Project should be avoided, for this aesthetic, at least. In the eight years I've been going to Century 21 regularly to check in on their Stone Island, I've yet to see one sweater that didn't screw itself up.
Nautical-inspired wear, rustic, but not preppy: I keep confusing Inverallan with both SNS Herning and conflating them with grammar butcherers but otherwise impressive Inventory Magazine (and store, etc.), which was one of the first editorial concerns to really ride for the Scottish sweater brand, and collaborate with them and probably even did a factory tour (assume so). I forget if it's Inverallan or Herning who are out of business but they (both) sell stuff on END, so no. Inverallan is mainly in the business of "Ernest Hemingway on a diet" sweaters--cable knits you can wear to the Yale club, Legal Seafood, awash or ashore--all-told, an unassailable look. High (kind of) price points and digital editorial associations notwithstanding, this is a killer sweater. But it's not the one you want.
So the question here is what exactly is the sweater Ted Turner is wearing here? What are its vintage and modern equivalents? (1977.) Is his America's Cup-winning skippering that year the greatest example of moonlighting in sports since Moe Berg? What about the coverage he got doing it?
More questions: What are these sweaters, modern-day, ripping off? What are their vintage equivalents? What do they go by and where does one find them? Unfortunately, this is where things become a bit of a mess. "Vintage sweater" is as un-Google-able item as there is, and the digital imprint--discussion, tumblr-posting, etc.--is a bit thin. You can't tell fit--at all--from online photos, sweaters being shapeless masses as they are, to say nothing of adjudicating materials, size, or drape. Or quality. The best-kept sweaters of that era are varsity sweaters--football, letterman, etc.--which were snappy, and of the same tight, plain wool, but few are plain, and none got wet.
A third of the vintage sweaters for sale in America which look like they have meat to 'em, judging on photo, are from the 1980s and nylon. Another third are cardigans, and the rest are too small. I bet whatever printing shop did Turner's Courageous embroidery sewed the whole thing. He's probably still on the payroll. There's no real cult around any of these sweaters--not like James Jarmusch argyle sweaters, or Shaggy Dogs, or the bulky cardigans like they wore in MLB in the 1920s--and maybe because they can't be taken in, or modified, they're left alone. So many of the stranger aesthetic choices of that era--rollnecks, scoop necks, like the one above, three-inch cuffs--are baked in to the good-quality-wool joints. Speaking broadly, I feel like you can't go vintage for anything formal--dress shoes, pants, sweaters--since the good stuff goes for so much, since guys are buying it for movie dressing, and the bad stuff makes you look very "free pile/budget rockabilly," like someone on the train with upturned Florsheims. So much of it is so small, too. Like old Belfast motorcycle jackets: an XL fits my little sister, but not me.
As fas as what Ted's wearing: It's easier to say what it isn't than what it is. It's not handmade--it appears to have a machined neck, and isn't a Fair Isle or a fisherman. Is it an old Donegal sweater? It's not flecked. It's not linen. Its not cotton. It's wool, it's thick, it's cream. It's a loose weave, but not that loose. It's not shetland. It's not fuzzy. I am trying to figure it out. McConnell's has some close calls, but the ones linked here don't look sea-faring. This 8-ply lambswool sweater is close in material, but not cut. This LL Bean army sweater is close, but also far, and unfortunate. Maybe it's this--but it looks to earthy for a yacht. Maybe it's this (yikes, what if it's a Supreme sweater)? Or this? Yes, this is close, as is this, but both look cheap and have raglan sleeves, not inset sleeves, and more bulbous collars. It's not this, but it should be. Aero Leather's rollnecks are a bridge too far. So are the Submariners. It might be a Guernsey, or a fake Guernsey--yeah, Guernseys are closest in cut and attitude*. But they're not it. I've been looking, and like the skinny army khaki in 2007, the straight leg jeans in 2001 and the army sneaker and striped T-shirt currently, there's a market failure. Importing basics to be alone in your muted style is the highest form of dress, as far as I'm concerned. But it's easier said than done. As in many things in life, the choice might be between getting lucky and living with the disappointment.
Thanks for reading. Questions, tips, errors, complaints, etc. can be sent here. Tell your friends! Or enemies! Or get them in the same room, print these emails out and have them whip each other with them. Thank you again.Snake
* Shoot out 2 Muffy