About knitwear:  one place where the British always held sway in the American Ivy shops.  We pretty much took our inspiration (without adaptation) from them in that regard.  I'm trying to think if there was anything original in American knits.   I think Press wants to claim credit for the Shaggy Dog (if I remember some of their newer marketing stuff), but that can't be right.  Surely there are antecedents.

We made the sweatshirt our own, but I think there was something unmistakably British about knitwear, and all the shops had (and have, I presume) the British stuff.    This holds true esp. for Brooks and the more mature traditional American stuff.  And for places like Paul Stuart and Andover, though a bit of the Johnny Italian has come into play.

RR&P does not recall owning that locally-made Dalkeith, but he does remember owning two items of Paul Stuart: one maroon cashmere v-neck which he thought ended up in the cat basket but has apparently vanished into thin air - and one dark green (bottle?  Hunter?  I dunno) Shetland v-neck with saddle shoulders that needed the attention of a seamstress.  I had a brief infatuation with Paul Stuart around 2006/7.  Bought nothing of theirs since. 
I'd also completely forgotten that Dalkeith has local roots.  I'd assumed it originated north of the border.
We live and learn.

I have a Pringle sweater- crew neck, blue, cable-knit from the1980’s. I recall my mother took me to a store that had imported- better quality- stuff. The movie Galipoli had recently opened. She bought me that sweater and a fair isle vest (I don’t think you guys call it that). I don’t think I’d ever had a fair isle or Pringle anything before that but she had better instincts than I. My mom had - still has- great taste. The house was mid century Modern-  Saarinen Womb Chair, Herman Miller gate-leg dining table, a bedroom set of severe Danish angles and gleaming dark wood.  And I still have the sweater.

Last edited by Jdemy (2021-12-20 08:41:38)

Anyone come across 'Tulchan'?  I hadn't, until yesterday.  Cotton/wool mix, cable-knit, v-neck.  A kind of raspberry colour.  Made in Lancashire, in spite of the 'Will Ye No' Come Back Agin?' sounding name (not unlike Dalkeith, in fact).  For dossing round the house, reading M.R.James and Dickens on Christmas Eve.

I believe Paine was once huge in the USA.  I bought two cashmere sweaters in 2008, one of which is still with me, from an American seller on Ebay.
Some of what Cable Car sold reminded me of good M&S, if no better.

You have to do what you can around here.  A shop in a nearby town was stocking the new Paine at a reasonable £75 a time.  Nothing too much to get excited about but I thought I'd buy another.  The shop had closed down.  But I'll tell you something for nothing, this was an old-fashioned gents' outfitters/country store where almost everything on offer turned out to be fucking rubbish.  Tattersall shirts, Harris tweed, raspberry-coloured cords, dealer boots.  I bought Irish-made pyjamas that fell apart within months, Dunlop slippers that lasted around eight or nine months before virtually disintegrating.  And none of this crap, the guy swore, was made in China or even Vietnam.  It was like a point of principle with him.  Maybe it's as well he closed down. 
Clothing I bought from Paul Stuart - particularly knitwear - turned out to be just as dismal.

Alver I think your post hits the nail on the head.
I still have a made in Scotland Pringle sweater. Quality.
Alan Paine made in England sweaters I once owned. I bought them from the Squire shop. I don't remember what type but I still have the receipts (anal).
Tonight I am wearing a merino wool made in England roll neck M & S over 30 years old!
I was one of those mugs that went all European designer shit in the 90s. I just didn't appreciate what we had until it was gone

Does anyone remember Sabre Knitwear. Before House Of Fraser bought it ,my nearest big Department Store Rackhams carried it. Very expensive.

Marks and Spencer knits were almost indestructible. Possibly the last good thing they made.

I'm only about 45 minutes from Smedleys factory shop. Superb for sea island shirts. I buy three or four at a time when they're on offer. The merino is bit too fine for me these days as it clings to the Dad-Bod.

Anybody bothered with Glenbrae golf sweaters?  As a confirmed non-player I yet like golf sweaters.  I've bought two recently, in navy.  V-neck.  Very restrained.  I wear them around the house for the most part.  Wouldn't want to do the Walk Of Shame.
I jest.  The one my wife found yesterday, at a very reasonable £4, is NOT one hundred per cent wool.  Very annoying.  Do golfers need a good deal of stretchiness?  My next-door neighbour plays and is an utter arse. 
Anyway, sod it, I figure if we can wear golf jackets we can wear golf knitwear.

Lord Jeff, an old made in the US brand are always worth a look on eBay. I’ve got a couple of their Shetlands that I bought deadstock and they are excellent.

There’s a cotton sweater of their’s on UK eBay at present that might fit me, but its got little boats embroidered on it so it doesn’t float mine.

In fact, exploring further, they're all either rather horrible else overpriced.  Or both.

This thread, BTW, was worth reviving for Horace's comments.  Stax - elsewhere - has spoken of the huge importation of Alan Paine knits to the US - and certainly the first two Alan Paine cashmere sweaters I bought came from American sellers and - even now - Alan Paine gear being offered on Ebay Com. is more interesting than what tends to be on offer in the UK (and can run expensive).  But I'm still sometimes picking up Made In England/UK lambswool sweaters made for M&S when I see them.  In fact, I changed into a navy v-neck mid-afternoon.  Still pretty decent quality, no?  One of my favourites - bottle green - I made the mistake of removing in a classroom, never to be seen again.  No use asking the cleaners anything, of course...