There is a small cult following out there (very small) that has been looking for the LLB Norwegian sweater that first appeared in the OPH, in 1981. They disappeared a decade ago, and peole have been buying them off of E Bay, when they became available.
LLB came out with a similar one this year.
The sale flyer that came form LLB today indicates that these are now on sale for $34.95. Item MK53692. Don't dismiss it as junk, because of the price. The quality is excellent, IMO.
In the unlikely event that you have been lusting after one of these for years, you might want to check it out. If it's not your cup of tea, back to Freeport.
The one that is the exact duplicate of the one in the OPH is Navy/natural. This one is a bit lighter weight that the one I got years ago, and destroyed cross country skiing, in Ct. This one is much more comfortable, indoors.
This post is encoded. If you don't know what OPH means, and don't remember the sweater referred to above, please disregard.
Matt, may we please have a link? I'm a huge fan of LL Bean and Land's End.
Matt,
OPH? My goodness, did you actually touch this OPH thing?
Just teasing old sport. A belated welcome to this forum. Times change. Welcome.
Cheers,
Trip
I wonder what happened with the original. Did the Norwegian factory go out of business? Of course I wonder what happened with the LLBean rugby shirts that I have worn for so long......
Last edited by Horace (2007-02-09 13:55:16)
Last edited by Matt (2007-02-09 07:41:36)
We've had these in England forever. Usually sold at Camping, Shooting, Mountain Climbing shops, etc. I've a great old 'William Evans' one from that gun shop down St. James Street (I think that's the name).
Never in fashion, never out of fashion.
Not a part of any 'scene' over here. Not even given a boost by what little of Preppy we took notice of over here ('Preppy' mainly featured in Fashion mags for girls in England).
Good knock-about jumpers.
Their iconic status in the U.S. is fascinating to us.
Probably in the same way that the Weejun is a London icon and very 'so what' in the U.S. ...
It's all good.
Serious point:
Lisa Birnbach could have picked on the L.L. Bean New England Rag Wool Sweater instead of the Norwegian just as easily & they would now be iconic, don't you think?
In the U.K. Barbour got a big boost from 'Sloane Ranger' in a similar way.
Fair play to 'Preppy' in the U.S. - It was what it was.
In the UK we thought 'Hype', just like we did with 'Sloane'.
(A cultural difference maybe.)
t.
I think they sold the original a few years ago. surely not lost in the mists of time. Didn't they sell it 5 years ago?
Um, pardon the persistent cluelessness, but does anybody have a pic of this thing? I tried the website (LL Bean) yesterday and could not find anything matching the item code MK53692. No luck searching the site using either OPH or Norwegian
I"m assuming the reference was to something LLBean called their Scandanavian sweater this year.
Same as Rep ties, eh?
Brilliant, bosthist, just brilliant!
Thanks for the pics, guys. Still cannot find it on the LL Bean website, but maybe they are just sold out?
You need to ring, eg. They're there.
Woolover's is 100% Wool, btw, & the banding at cuff, collar & hem is more authentically Scandiwegian.
(Check out the real deal over in Fjord land)
This gets even more interesting as the fetish for the photo in the OPH is the one that people want (I know I've had emails)...
Fine by me.
I smell Preppy re-enactment in the air!
Last edited by Terry Lean (2007-02-11 10:18:13)
This Bean sweater looks bizarrley familiar...I've never ordered from the catalog in my life but I guess some of the kids i went to middle school with must have...