Essential Sweaters EVERY Man Must Own [0:00:00]
Did you know that badass working men have been wearing sweaters for almost five hundred
years? Seriously, during medieval times in northern Europe, we saw the first sweaters
pop up, they’re Guernsey. This was the sweater that was for the working
man, the guy that’s going to be out in the elements. He’s going to be out on the ocean
and he needs a piece of gear that’s actually going to do a good job of keeping him warm
of keeping him insulated from that cold weather. In today’s video, gents, the ultimate guide
to men’s sweaters and how you can look great wearing one.
First up, we’ve got the Guernsey. This is the sweater I’m wearing right now. This
is a modern interpretation. But, even modern interpretations of the Guernsey go for a very
simple sweater. This sweater is so simple I could actually wear it either side.
So, there isn’t a back, there isn’t a front, and that’s the key characteristic
of a Guernsey. This was a very utilitarian piece of gear. Something that was sewn for
a man that just simply needed to have protection. It was oftentimes handmade at home, so they
follow a lot of the tradition. Now, one of the more interesting things here
is the crewneck. This is actually a new edition. Older Guernsey that you’ll see they actually
don’t have anything like this. This was added and actually is easily replaced because
they understood they wanted something you could fit closer to the neck and actually
keep, you know, the elements out of there. At the same time, could be replaced because
it would be these areas that would oftentimes get frayed and torn.
Next up, we’ve got the Aran sweater named for the islands off the west coast of Ireland.
Again, an area that’s going to be cold that’s going to be wet. And, the fishermen there
they needed gear that was going to keep them warm.
Now, one of the things that you’ll notice with classic sweaters is most of them are
made from wool. Wool can absorb about 40% of its weight in water and actually still
feel dry. It will still retain heat. Now, the key characteristic that gives away
this is an Aran sweater is going to be the cable knitting. You’re going to see this
on the front of the sweater. Different sweaters coming from different areas are going have
very different knitting. But, this is something that actually if you go back and you look
at a lot of clans a lot of different groups of people will actually identify where you
came from based on the knitting. So, very interesting, very much, you know, a whole
art to this. Now, when it comes to wearing Aran sweaters,
understand these are casual. They’re going to be heavier weight. They’re great actually
can be worn almost as outerwear if you want something casual to wear around town. They
are very durable. These are very heavyweight warm tough sweaters and I think look great
with jeans, you can wear them with odd trousers, but it wouldn’t be something you would ever
wear with a suit. Next up, let’s talk about naval sweaters.
So, I’m wearing here a variation of the submariner. As the name implies, this was
worn by British sailors during World War II on submarines. You also saw other navies picked
this up. Why? Because when you’re on those vessels
and you’re under the water, it’s cold and a lot of times to conserve energy, they
kept the temperature and the heating at a very low temperature. It gets cold down there,
so you had to be able to have insulation. You also needed something that could get wet.
Something that when you’re getting up on top of the sub you get sprayed with water,
you would be fine or at least you would be able to recover from it.
The point is is that this also needed to be close to the body because you’re moving
in and around a lot of people. It was, again, a functional piece of gear.
Now, you may notice how bulky the sweater is, and this is a very casual sweater. Also,
the neck part right here, this is an extreme turtleneck. This is going to keep you warm.
This has a functional purpose. But, again, everything about this sweater is casual. So,
it looks great with jeans. You could even dress it up with a pair maybe of gray flannel
trousers, but you would not wear this with a suit.
Another naval sweater I want to quickly talk about, the woolly pully. So, if you’ve ever
served in the Marine Corps, you know what I’m talking about. That woolly pully, it
was itchy it was something a lot of guys did not want to wear. But, now that I know the
history, I understand where it came from. They were made to fit close to the body. They
were made to keep you warm when you’re in a cold environment and still be able to move
around fit close to the body. They actually had on the elbows in on the shoulders a bit
of protection to avoid snags. Next up, we’ve got the crewneck. This is
going to be one of the most common sweaters you see out there. And this one, because of
the tightness of the weave, the light build overall of the sweater, this is one that you
can layer and you can start to wear under a sports jacket. You can even possibly wear
this under a suit if the color and the style work.
Now, what is the style of the crew sweater? Again, this is one that actually does have
a back, does have a front, so it’s different from the Guernsey in that way, but overall
it’s very similar. And, what we’re going to find is elastic in here around the wrist,
we’re going to find right here around the neck. And this is where it gets its name.
So, this was first made popular on ships. Again, why are we going for a crewneck in
a working environment? Because you don’t want sea spray, you don’t want water going
down in and around there, so it was meant to be elastic. And, they also knew that this
would be the area that would break down that would tear and so, they made it so it could
be easily repaired. Now, as this sweater is so common you’re
going to find it in a variety of color, a variety of patterns. If you’re buying your
first crewneck sweaters, keep it simple. I really like a charcoal gray or a regular gray,
maybe even a medium gray. Why do I say gray? Because it’s going to pretty much match
anything. It’s a neutral non-color. Or you could actually maybe go with something
that you already wear a lot of. So, maybe you want to go with blue, works with what’s
in your wardrobe. You want to go maybe with a dark red like this. You already know you’ve
got items like this and they will work with your existing interchangeable wardrobe.
[0:05:07] The key is, don’t go for anything that is
really bright as your first sweater. Maybe for a Christmas sweater if you’ve got a
party, okay, that makes sense. But, what you want to do is bring in something that’s
going to work throughout your wardrobe. Now, the style the actual weave. The lighter
and the closer it fits to your body, I think that’s better. Again, not going to an extreme
here, but the point being you want it to fit when you’re buying a sweater. And this is
key because sweaters are very difficult to adjust.
You can take them to someone who can knit and they can actually bring it in, they can
adjust the sweater. But, it’s something that if it’s too short, and what I mean
by too short, if you raise up your arm and here it actually goes up and we can see your
midsection, that’s way too short. If you pull the sweater down and it goes about
four to five inches beyond actually what your waist area is, that’s pushing it. You don’t
ever want to pull it down and cover your backside, that’s way too long. But, usually a sweater
is going to have an elastic in and around the waist and so, as long as it can crunch
up in and around your midsection and stay about in that area, you’re good to go.
Next up, let’s talk about the V-neck, second in popularity only behind the crewneck. But,
in my opinion the V-neck is one of the most versatile sweaters that you can own. And,
I think men should wear more of these. I like how you can dress them down, so I could
actually wear this, you know with the shirt right here, dark jeans, pair of brogues. Great
combination. Or I could actually wear this with a white dress shirt, wear it with a casual
suit or even a business suit in inclement weather with, you know, black oxfords and
that would be a fine look. Now, right here we’ve got a bold strong
color, and I think that bold beautiful colors are great when you own multiple sweaters.
But, if you’re just starting off looking to buy your first V-neck sweater, you want
to go gray, you maybe go for a little bit darker than this. Or you can even go with
a tan or a brown especially if you’ve got navy or you’ve got blue a lot in your wardrobe
especially with your trousers, right here, this combination this light tan is going to
look great with that color. Now, because V-neck sweaters are so common,
you’re going to find they’re made from a wide variety of materials out there. Ideally,
you want to go with cashmere or you want to go with wool. But, I understand that that
can be very expensive for a lot of people. So, you’re going to see blends out there,
you’re going to see synthetic materials thrown in.
You’re going to see cotton sweaters. Understand what you’re getting. When you go with cotton,
you’re really losing a lot of the insulating properties. That being said it is something
that could be lightweight, you could actually go for a summer sweater. Yes, there is such
a thing as a summer sweater. Or maybe when it’s a synthetic material, you understand,
okay, I’m compromising here on quality, but I’m going to get this at a great price
and it’s got a mix of wool in it. Now, understand if you see recycle wool, be
very careful with that. That’s wool that’s been used again and again and the strands
basically have become much shorter than they originally were with virgin wool and so, it’s
not going to be as strong. It’s going to be more likely to pill. And that’s something
you’ll see on a lot of your sweaters is pilling after you’ve worn them for awhile
and that’s where basically material starts to build up.
Understand you can actually get a de-piller. There are machines that you could run over
it. You could actually take de-piller stone or you could even take a razor to get rid
of the pilling. Next up, we’ve got the turtleneck. And,
you may be wondering what’s the difference between the turtleneck and the classic submariner
the navy sweater. The big thing is going to be the weight of the sweater. Notice how this
sweater is not nearly as bulky as the submariner, so this sweater can be layered.
Oftentimes, this sweater is also going to be made not only with a tighter weave, but
with higher quality materials. Now, wool is great, but wool even though it’s a luxury
material is not going to be as sought after as cashmere.
So, cashmere with this sweater is made from – it’s going to be a thinner strand when
we actually look at the fiber. It’s also going to be one that can be longer and can
be sewn into a tighter weave and what we get is something that actually is going to be
warmer than wool, lighter than wool, and is sought after because of its very nice feel.
So, wool sweaters can be very itchy, cashmere is not going to have that issue. Again, when
you get down you look at the fiber you see what the difference is, and it’s simply
the size of the cashmere fiber is much smaller, wool oftentimes is going to have barbs and
that’s why it actually itches. Now, you can wear a turtleneck by itself or
you can pair it with a sports jacket, you can wear it with a casual suit and so many
guys are going to say, “Ugh, turtlenecks are not my thing.” Guys, don’t knock it
until you try it. Turtlenecks, I think they’re absolutely amazing. And, if you agree, let
me know down in the comments or disagree. Tell me how you can’t wear a turtleneck.
The point is go out there and try one on because I think when you wear a great-looking turtleneck
one maybe made from cashmere, not only does it feel great, it’s functional, it keeps
you warm. Right now, it’s really cold outside. This outfit is going to be warmer than just
wearing a dress shirt and you stand out from the crowd.
Next up, we’ve got the polo knit sweater. And, I just looked at myself in the mirror
and I’m wondering, you know should I actually be wearing two collars next to each other?
You have an opinion? Let me know down in the comments. But, I think you can pull this off,
so I’m just going to go with it. Point being is this sweater right here has
the soft collar. It also has the buttons. This sweater is going to be a mid to it’s
a some – it’s not super casual. I can actually wear this with a layer, I could actually
even wear this maybe under a sports jacket, but it isn’t going to be as formal as a
crewneck or a V-neck sweater can be. [0:10:07]
Now, this sweater right here, there’s probably two key characteristics that you pick up on.
First up, we’ve got the half buttons. So, you notice I’ve got the buttons here. And
by the way, buttons are always going to be a bit more formal than zippers. Sorry, zippers
are considered sports, but right here is you could tell, it doesn’t actually go halfway,
still it’s called a half button. Also, you’ll notice the patterns. Basically,
this pattern here makes the sweater much more casual. It also draws attention up to the
chest area. So, if you’re a bigger guy and you want to draw attention to your chest because
let’s say you’re a little bit big in the midsection, this would be a great sweater
that you could pull off. But, understand that this sweater is casual.
Will look great with jeans, works well maybe with, you know, chin, you know even chinos
or type of khaki, but it wouldn’t ever be something that you would wear with dress slacks
or a suit. Now, I mentioned that zippers are casual,
so does that mean that you never buy a half zip? Of course not. Actually, I’ve got a
number of these in my wardrobe, just understand their limitations. This is going to be a casual
style. You could maybe wear it with sports jacket
when you traveling. I know I do, but I’m never going to wear it with a suit. It is
just because of the zipper, never going to be anything that can go above the sports jacket
level. But, it looks great with this combination
right here with dark jeans or if I’m going to be traveling and I just want something
to be able to throw on. So, again, a look and actually I like the functionality. If
it gets cold, you can zip that right up. So, a good functional piece.
Next up, we’ve got the sweater vest. When it comes down to it, it’s functional, it
can be layered, and it’s got a very interesting history. And, it works for Tressel over at
Ohio State. So, if you like it, own it, wear it, bring it into your wardrobe.
Next up, we’ve got the cardigan sweater. Now, the one key characteristic that separates
this sweater from all others is it’s not a pullover. This one will actually have an
opening in the front either using buttons or a zipper. Two other things you’ll probably
see on a lot of cardigans, but it doesn’t have to be there is going to be pockets right
in the front. And, you’ll also oftentimes see lapel.
A lapel is basically where the sweater folds over like this, very similar to what we see
on a jacket. Again, it doesn’t have to have these, but we’re going to see a wide variety
of different cardigans made from different materials some of them being casual, some
of them being lighter weight that actually could be layered under a jacket.
So, speaking of layering, how do you do it and look good? Guys, I’ve got you covered
with this video right here, how to layer like a boss. Ten rules you need to follow when
you’re layering your clothing. So, you want to take your sweater add it to the other outfits
in your wardrobe. I show you exactly how to do it in this video right here. Go check it
out. [0:12:33] End of audio