Cardigans I Have Known And Loved

As everyone knows cardigans (or cardigan sweaters as they are sometimes termed) were invented in 1992 in Jönköping, Sweden by this man, James Brudenell who was holidaying there.

James was also responsible for inventing the Balaclava, which later, due to a misunderstanding, inspired legendary psychedelic folkers, Pearls Before Swine.

He then appointed five local people to spread the word around the world, initially only in Japan, but thanks to a plucky young grocer from the West Midlands, suddenly cardigans were available everywhere.

James’ marketing techniques for cardigans in this country were limited to the progenitors of the so-called C86 movement, which also resulted in sales of lunchboxes quadrupling.

An early experimenter with cardigans was Anthony Braxton, although he was frowned upon by the jazz establishment for not wearing nice suits and trying to ape the tweed-jacket-and-leather-patches look of the European avant-garde.

Note that is a small saxophone. Anthony Braxton is not a giant. But it took the effort of one Kurt Cobain to popularise cardigans again.

Cobain chose his lime cardigan in a direct tribute to an obscure band of Scots known for their chapped lips: the Vaselines. Jesus didn’t want them for a sunbeam you know, Christ being more into loinclothes, which were more comfortable than cardigans, and more washable too.