After 1968, the man’s cardigan became associated in the American imagination with Mr. Rogers, the host of a children’s television show
The 1990s have been revived so many times, that almost any teenager with access to Instagram can make a list of the decade’s most iconic outfits.
It could include the Virgin Airlines sweatshirt worn by Lady Diana Spencer leaving the gym one day, the plaid minisuit worn by Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, and the metallic skirt and baby-sized Angora sweater combo worn by all the supermodels in golden era of Versace.
Among all these clothes would be the faded jacket worn by Kurt Cobain when he recorded MTV Unplugged with Nirvana.
It is now owned by an anonymous buyer, who picked it up for $334,000 at a 2019 auction at New York’s Julien’s auction house. It was the second time the cardigan sold.
The seller, a Nirvana fan and race car team owner, had acquired it four years earlier, also from Julien’s. At the time, he stated that he had not bought it as an investment, but out of genuine devotion and that the garment had a special place in his heart.
The cardigan was made by the Manhattan Industries brand. According to fashion historian Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell, cited by Rolling Stone, it was probably made in the first half of the 1970s. The label has the logo of a skier, as if to emphasize that it was a rich man’s leisurewear man.
After 1968, the man’s cardigan became associated in the American imagination with Mr. Rogers, the host of a children’s television show. In each episode he wore his own cardigan, knitted by his mother, sometimes with the buttons crooked, to show the children that everyone makes mistakes. This association cemented the idea of the cardigan as a friendly garment, radiating warmth.
Grunge fashion was full of irony. T-shirts with brand logos worn to express a rejection of consumerism, short dresses with plunging necklines, but the adoption of the cardigan seems to be more of a practical decision than anything else. The cardigan was worn with dirty Converse, flannel, band t-shirts, plastic glasses bought from the supermarket and jackets from the 1950s and 1960s.
Kurt Cobain himself, who had a special sense of style and a normal physical beauty that is not often mentioned, as if it was accidental and not one of the factors in Nirvana’s entry into the mainstream, contributed to the change in the idea of grunge. Although in its early days it was more influenced by the punk rock scene, incorporating tougher elements like leather jackets, Cobain, who wore dresses before Harry Styles and Bad Bunny, took the style in an androgynous direction.
The cardigan suited this calculated sloppiness very well, with a soft fabric that has a long history in men’s wardrobe but retains traces of womenswear.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
