1920s Great Gatsby Mens or Women's Knit Vest?

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helenheven

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1920s Great Gatsby Mens or Women\'s Knit Vest?

Can anyone help identify this knit vest? The dealer told me they thought it was 1920s, possibly menswear. I have no idea how to tell about the wool - it's very soft and not scratchy at all - or the construction. I have seen an almost identical vest worn in a film set in the 1920s-1930s - possibly "The Great Gatsby" or "A River Runs Through It". Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
I didn't say anthing earlier about this because I thought someone else might know better.... It looks like a 1920s sweatervest to me - the sort they used repros of when filming the Great Gatsby and which caused a resurgence in popularity in the early 1970s. I know because I was a 12 year old geek when I wore a similar acrylic one in the early 70s, with my plaid polyester pants and brown wallabee shoes.... I think yours is a woman's style - the pattern is just too busy and brightly coloured to be a man's, also the 'V' is too deep. I would expect it to be worn with jodhpurs or plus fours for some kind of sporting activity, such as golf. Its a wonderful piece - where are you listing it for sale?
 
I, too, held off responding because I hope a more knowledgeable person would join in - but I disagree, I don't think it's '20s-40s.

I've seen quite a few from that era and they tend to have ribbed openings at the neckline, armholes and waist. The way these edges are finished off looks odd. This one looks more like a tourist style that has come from a developing country - but I can't identify the style with any particular country.

Do you have any close ups? The questions I have is -
a) is it pure wool? I test for this by spraying a little water on it. Wool has a very distinctive smell when wet.
b) how are the seams finished? Are they hand stitched or machine stitched?
c) is it a hand knit or machine knitted vest?

Sorry to be cynical, but the real ones aren't as common as the copies.

N
 
I've looked at this 10 times today, and I still cannot decide. I do think the key is the fiber. If you do not get that "wet hair" smell when wet, then it is acrylic, and it is 70s. However, it being wool does not automatically mean it is 20s, though it most likely would be.

I too wore these in the 70s, and something about the coloration is just not right.

Can you show us a clear photo of the side seams?
 
All of the 20s and 30s knits I have had, have been that heavy old scratchy wool. I agree the arm hole binding looks 70s to me.
The wool is normally like the old wool bathing suits.
The inside knitting doesn't look correct to me either.

I have never had any in a soft light weight wool in my 16 years in business.
But, that doesn't mean that they don't exist.
And I could be all wrong but without feeling it, I can't say for sure.
 
I am absolutely no specialist, but just from my own experience in knitting - and having a mother who's an expert knitter, I would somehow expect the openings to be finished in a nice rib knit too. I have never seen one of these finished like this before - to me it looks "unfinished", to be honest. Looking at it like that, I can't really say if it was machine- or hand-knitted. It would be interesting to know if the seams were done by hand or not.

I like wearing sweaters like these a lot too by the way :lol:. My mother made two for me some time ago, which I like to wear with a black turtleneck and vintage black corduroy bellbottoms - a very 70s look! I even have one my mom made for my dad when they were newly married, which made it's way into my closet after it didn't fit him anymore. She uses sock-wool, so they're machine-washable and hold up just about forever.

Karin
 
I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one unsure. I dismissed a 1970s knock-off because of the uneveness and errors in knitting, at least not a manufactured knock-off. I also didn't think it was ethnic because of the lack of any identifiable ethnic motifs like little men, or trees of life, however the blanket stitch-like edging was a bit odd. I thought it may have be an early knitting machine vest but its so intricate with all the colours and then so simply finished, that's an odd mixture of sophistication and home-made finishing. Anyway, nothing quite said aboslutely one thing over another, but I do like the colours for the 1920s, if it was 70s I would expect more earth tones and fewer colours used more repetitavely throughout the entire pattern. The use of turquoise only at the bottom of the sweater is not the right aesthetic for a 70s version.
 
I think it's even more modern than 70s. It could easily be a cotton or cotton/poly 90s item akin to the Ralph Lauren Cowichan sweaters. The bright colorway and blanket stitch edges showed up in early 90s winter wear.
 
I've never seen a menswear knitted vest from the 1920's without ribknit finishing. Generally menswear vests were quite fitted and worn over a shirt. What size is it? Colours like turquoise and quite bright colours were used in knitwear during the 1970's. Some great examples of Fair Isle from different decades here;

http://tinyurl.com/25egrhq
 
I saw that my knitting blog had been linked from the forum and thought I would join and post a reply regarding the vest.

Attached is an image I've taken from "Weldon's Encyclopaedia of Needlework". The edition is from c. 1935 and, as you can see, the example of fair-isle has patterns that also appear in your vest.



In particular the second row from the top, and second row from the bottom. Also the black triangles breaking up each segment are also present. I would suggest that this vest is influenced highly by this design from Weldon's.

Perhaps for helping age the piece look at the seams as they may be sewn together using a different type of yarn which may reveal more to the actual age of the piece, which I would guess is more 1970's vintage than '20s due to the blanket stitch finish around the arm and neck holes. This may have been used instead of regular ribbing as you would need double pointed needles to finish it off in this style.

If you would like to see more of the pattern posted I can scan the graph and email it to you.

nat :-)

http://alive-and-knitting.blogspot.com/
 
Thanks for joining us Nat - and that's one handsome man you have there. Interesting how his vest is tucked in under his belt (and presumably pants?). Modern men would not be so brave.

N
 
The collar and armhole bands would be knitted on after the sweater front and back were sewn together, right? So it looks to me like this was an unfinished sweater that was knitted in the 1920s or early 30s and finished later, without the pattern, with blanket stitching.
 
Search "nordic sweater vest" on ebay and you'll see the ramie/cotton mall brand items I'm talking about - LL Bean, Koret, Lands End, etc. I didn't see one listed at the moment that has the same blanket stitch, but I have seen many modern sweaters with that finish. The inside of the vest is messy - it does not have the cleaned up finish of older wool intarsia knits, and the blanket stitch finishing is the cheap & easy "made in China" type. The waist has no ribbing either, and a 1920s sweater certainly would (and it would be contiguous to the body) so that it could be easily tucked in like in the above photo. The OP says it's soft, not scratchy, which really leads me to think it's probably not wool. Having looked at hundreds of modern clothing items per month for the last 13 years in my store, my gut feeling is that this is a 90s piece.
 
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