... And you know that the American style Shetland  when compared to the Shetlands in England and Scotland when I was growing up & wearing them as an English 'Trad' dresser are very different animals... I'm talking 1965 onwards here.

Shetlands were always much cheaper than Lambswool & very flat & scratchy. My mother thought very little of them. A bit of a Poor man's sweater in London when compared to all the other options.

The American style double brushed Shetland looks a lot like a cheap Woman's Mohair sweater in England. It isn't a style that we'd recognise as being a component of 'Traditional' menswear at all.

The Shetlands you know are absolutely not the Shetlands we used to know. Just like your Harris Tweeds are vastly different to ours. The details are all different.

Yours are a wonderful mutant exaggeration of the true classic style in both cases. A thing I like.

Interesting?

J.

True.

Kids wore Shetlands because they were cheap.