Military 'woolly pully' sweaters

[STEVIEBOY1]

The suede patches on the Rothley are larger than the patches on the conventional WP. The body is also longer. As I might have mentioned when this came up on another thread, the body of the Rothley sweater covers my backside when I am out hiking or just sitting at my desk (unlike the ‘normal’ WP) and so I call it a fart cushion.

What an image you portray there.

 

[Ticklishchap]

OK sent a 15% off pre-Black Friday email yesterday. They used a female model wearing one of their Olympic wool sweaters I think. ... This follows on from a few days ago when they sent an image of the ‘Woolly Pully cardigan’ (not a good innovation) on a female torso tailor’s dummy: the Woolly Booby?(!)
It’s not a great idea to use female models for these rugged and quintessentially masculine sweaters. It just looks absurd and an attempt to be PC.
If they want to be diverse they should use male models from a range of ethnic groups as other menswear brands do very effectively.
Also, in this instance there was a really downmarket, chavvy impression, as if they were appealing to the Primark/Matalan/Walmart demographic.
For American readers, our chavs are sort of like your rednecks but more urban. I don’t know the German equivalent: lumpenproletariat?
Anyway the feminisation and chavification are putting me off OK a lot.

 

[Cornelius]

Anyway the feminisation and chavification are putting me off OK a lot.

Hey, if it helps OK keep their business afloat & the purchase price reasonable, I don't mind. Their sweaters are so durable that most purchasers will not need replacements in their lifetime, which means the business requires a larger consumer base.

Can anyone here speak to the fit of their "Belgrave Quarter Zip Sweater"? Snug enough to wear under a fitted jacket? Long enough in body to stop drafts? Long enough sleeves for my 26" arms?

I prefer turtlenecks in the truly cold winter weather we get here around Lake Michigan, but I start to overheat if exerting myself. So the option to unzip & vent appeals.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Hey, if it helps OK keep their business afloat & the purchase price reasonable, I don't mind. Their sweaters are so durable that most purchasers will not need replacements in their lifetime, which means the business requires a larger consumer base.

Can anyone here speak to the fit of their "Belgrave Quarter Zip Sweater"? Snug enough to wear under a fitted jacket? Long enough in body to stop drafts? Long enough sleeves for my 26" arms?

I prefer turtlenecks in the truly cold winter weather we get here around Lake Michigan, but I start to overheat if exerting myself. So the option to unzip & vent appeals.

Being a cold weather lover I shall have to visit Lake Michigan in the fall!
You don’t need to convince me about Outdoor Knitwear. I have been buying from them for many years and have an embarrassing number of their Woolly Pullies. I just think their marketing in this instance is maladroit - I suggested an alternative in my comment above and so it wasn’t all negative! I shall let them know what I think as a long term customer and friend. I also have a bit of marketing knowledge from working in property/real estate.
It’s likely that I shall buy something with their offer. That will be the time to mention it.
I’ll take a look at their Belgrave.

 

[Turnip]

Lumpenproletariat is a pejorative term for low ranking working class as a whole from the dark ages of industrialization/industrial revolution, on whose blood and bones the wealth of the high society had been literally obtained, what I’m sure you didn’t mean.

A chav meant as an attitude, decency or not independent from social, financial...ranking, could be be better translated to Proll or Bollo...

 

[Ticklishchap]

Lumpenproletariat is a pejorative term for low ranking working class as a whole from the dark ages of industrialization/industrial revolution, on whose blood and bones the wealth of the high society had been literally obtained, what I’m sure you didn’t mean.

A chav meant as an attitude, decency or not independent from social, financial...ranking, could be be better translated to Proll or Bollo...

Turnip,
This is way off-topic of course but my understanding (from being taught Marxist theory as a student of History) is that the proletariat are the industrial class, mostly skilled and unionised, but the lumpenproletariat were unskilled, casually employed people who were (according to Marx) likely to support dictators and be right-wing. In London and SE England (I won’t speak for other parts of England because I don’t live and work there) the white working class have become more lumpenproletariat: they are mainly self-employed, they have little or no interest in education, chaotic family lives (mainly female-headed households with children by different fathers) and generally hold racist or ethnic-nationalist/conspiracist/Q-Anon/Brexit views and support populist politicians.

Going back nearer to the topic, I started another thread on Einstein-style Shetland wool sweaters. There was a lot of discussion about how it was part of a working class ‘uniform’ in early to mid-C20 Europe. The working class in question consisted of skilled craftsmen and engineers.

The word lumpen occurs in English: I have used it recently to describe anti-mask demonstrators in London.

A historical detail: Andreas Baader described himself at his trial as ‘a member of the lumpenproletariat’ (source: Jillian Becker, Hitler’s Children: The Story of the Baader-Meinhof Gang).

 

[Guppy]

Question for the forum...

I recently found this wooly pully for sale on poshmark. I liked the color, so I bought it. The seller's photos showed what looked like OD knit body with khaki patches, and I thought the colors looked great together.

When it arrived, I was disappointed to find that the colors in the seller's photos were not accurate to naked eye viewing in natural light. What I received looks like this:

Apparently the flash reflected the light from the patches differently from the knits, and caused a serious color shift.

I am NOT dissatisfied with the sweater itself, it is in great shape, well made, and fits nice. It's a Mitt's Nits, and I got it for a reasonable price. So I'm keeping it. But I'd love to find a two-tone wooly-pully commando sweater colored like the first photo, olive drab body, khaki shoulders and forearm patches. With or without epaulets. In wool, of course, not acrylic.

I've checked around and the makers I'm familiar with (TW Kempton, Mitt's Nits, Brigade Quartermaster, Rothco) don't seem to make any two-tone sweaters like this. Does anyone know of one?

 

[Monitor]

That's an army sweater originally, innit?

 

[Guppy]

That's an army sweater originally, innit?

Yes.

 

[TREEMAN]

Still nice....

 

[Seb Lucas]

Question for the forum...

I recently found this wooly pully for sale on poshmark. I liked the color, so I bought it. The seller's photos showed what looked like OD knit body with khaki patches, and I thought the colors looked great together.

View attachment 281035

When it arrived, I was disappointed to find that the colors in the seller's photos were not accurate to naked eye viewing in natural light. What I received looks like this:

View attachment 281034

Apparently the flash reflected the light from the patches differently from the knits, and caused a serious color shift.

I am NOT dissatisfied with the sweater itself, it is in great shape, well made, and fits nice. It's a Mitt's Nits, and I got it for a reasonable price. So I'm keeping it. But I'd love to find a two-tone wooly-pully commando sweater colored like the first photo, olive drab body, khaki shoulders and forearm patches. With or without epaulets. In wool, of course, not acrylic.

I've checked around and the makers I'm familiar with (TW Kempton, Mitt's Nits, Brigade Quartermaster, Rothco) don't seem to make any two-tone sweaters like this. Does anyone know of one?

Lighting is part of the fun of buying things on line. Looks just like the two I had.

 

[B-24J]

Yes.

Though mentioned earlier on this subject:

Outdoor Knitwear's "Woolly Pully" https://www.outdoorknitwear.com/3_woolly-pully?orderby=name&orderway=desc

I have several of their items. Enjoy them all.

John

 

[Guppy]

Though mentioned earlier on this subject:

Outdoor Knitwear's "Woolly Pully" https://www.outdoorknitwear.com/3_woolly-pully?orderby=name&orderway=desc

I have several of their items. Enjoy them all.

John

Outdoor Knitwear is great. They sell TW Kempton, and I have a few, but they don't have a wooly pully with the color scheme I'm looking for.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Question for the forum...

I recently found this wooly pully for sale on poshmark. I liked the color, so I bought it. The seller's photos showed what looked like OD knit body with khaki patches, and I thought the colors looked great together.

View attachment 281035

When it arrived, I was disappointed to find that the colors in the seller's photos were not accurate to naked eye viewing in natural light. What I received looks like this:

View attachment 281034

Apparently the flash reflected the light from the patches differently from the knits, and caused a serious color shift.

I am NOT dissatisfied with the sweater itself, it is in great shape, well made, and fits nice. It's a Mitt's Nits, and I got it for a reasonable price. So I'm keeping it. But I'd love to find a two-tone wooly-pully commando sweater colored like the first photo, olive drab body, khaki shoulders and forearm patches. With or without epaulets. In wool, of course, not acrylic.

I've checked around and the makers I'm familiar with (TW Kempton, Mitt's Nits, Brigade Quartermaster, Rothco) don't seem to make any two-tone sweaters like this. Does anyone know of one?

Guppy,
I’m sorry I haven’t replied to this much earlier but I’ve been having a short break from the Forum.
Yesterday I wore my Moss Green Woolly Pully from Outdoor Knitwear. The elbow and shoulder patches are noticeably darker green than the sweater itself - not quite two tone but 1.5 tone, you might say! The only genuine two tone is the Heather Mix; I have one of these and actually quite like it although it’s not the most popular colour. The patches are chocolate brown in contrast to the light-coloured sweater.

If you PM me I’ll give you more info and send you a couple of snapshots.

It’s possible that OK will do a customised two tone version for you if you ask them nicely.

 

[Ticklishchap]

I have just acquired from OK a Welbeck version (without patches, that is) of the RAF (Royal Air Force, for the uninitiated) blue Woolly Pully. I already have two versions of the RAF WP, one with just the patches, the other with shoulder straps and pen pocket as well. The Welbeck was custom-made for me as I asked them to do it: usually it is not available in Air Farce blue.

OK did very well on this and I wrote to thank them. At some point I shall gently criticise their recent marketing (see my ‘lumpen’ comments above) but very diplomatically of course!

 

[Guppy]

Thanks, @Ticklishchap. I actually wrote to Outdoor Knitwear prior to posting here, and asked if they had anything like this. I got a response that they weren't able to open the image I sent them, and requested that I resend it to another email address, which I did. Then I never heard back. I followed up 2-3 times, with both email accounts, but received no further response. I thought that Outdoor Knitwear would be my best bet, as they do seem to have the widest variety of color options in this style of sweater. I own maybe 4-5 different styles from the various lines that they sell, and like them all very well. I can't begrudge if they don't make what I'm looking for, but I wish they would have responded to me one way or the other, just for the peace of mind. That's great that they are willing to do custom jobs, but you must have more pull with them than I do. They do seem to be a good company, with great products and (usually, other than losing my email) great service.

 

[Ticklishchap]

Thanks, @Ticklishchap. I actually wrote to Outdoor Knitwear prior to posting here, and asked if they had anything like this. I got a response that they weren't able to open the image I sent them, and requested that I resend it to another email address, which I did. Then I never heard back. I followed up 2-3 times, with both email accounts, but received no further response. I thought that Outdoor Knitwear would be my best bet, as they do seem to have the widest variety of color options in this style of sweater. I own maybe 4-5 different styles from the various lines that they sell, and like them all very well. I can't begrudge if they don't make what I'm looking for, but I wish they would have responded to me one way or the other, just for the peace of mind. That's great that they are willing to do custom jobs, but you must have more pull with them than I do. They do seem to be a good company, with great products and (usually, other than losing my email) great service.

When did you write to them? I’m a bit surprised but I get the impression that they have had a few staff changes recently. They have survived the pandemic and the lockdown (so far) and the general economic and political chaos in our country at present (we are not unique in this of course!). However I know from their Director that they have had to work quite hard to get through this. I might be able to help you if you message me and let me know who your contacts were at OK and when you sent the emails.

 

[Musher]

Picked up this Italian military surplus v neck on Sportsman's Guide

 

[Ticklishchap]

Picked up this Italian military surplus v neck on Sportsman's Guide

I'm not quite clear about the colour: I think it's a shade of blue-grey, but it's hard to tell from the light. Are they pure wool?

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Thanks, @Ticklishchap. I actually wrote to Outdoor Knitwear prior to posting here, and asked if they had anything like this. I got a response that they weren't able to open the image I sent them, and requested that I resend it to another email address, which I did. Then I never heard back. I followed up 2-3 times, with both email accounts, but received no further response. I thought that Outdoor Knitwear would be my best bet, as they do seem to have the widest variety of color options in this style of sweater. I own maybe 4-5 different styles from the various lines that they sell, and like them all very well. I can't begrudge if they don't make what I'm looking for, but I wish they would have responded to me one way or the other, just for the peace of mind. That's great that they are willing to do custom jobs, but you must have more pull with them than I do. They do seem to be a good company, with great products and (usually, other than losing my email) great service.

They may also have less staff at the moment, you could always trying telephoning them, allowing for the time difference of course. I have always had very good service from them, I have quite a lot of their sweaters. By the way, in spite of the difference in the colour of the sweater you recently purchased, it still looks a great pullover. Is it wool?