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Seasonal speciality: How the jumper makes me hungry for autumn

20.9.2022

Translation: machine translated

The concept of the slipover was not clear to me for a long time. In the meantime, I've figured it out and am looking forward to its high season. Because it's now!

It's actually quite logical: just like its big brother, the pullover, whose name is made up of the English words "pull" and "over", the slipover owes its name to the combination of "pull" and "under".* As I said, obvious. Nevertheless, I was, firstly, far too old and, secondly, mind-blown when I realised this fact for the first time.

*Beide Begriffe sind natürlich eingedeutscht. Im Englischen suchst du nach Pullover und Pullunder vergebens. Fündig wirst du bei «Sweater» und «Sweater Vest».

So you put it on, the pull-under. Underneath the jacket. Thanks to the absence of sleeves, it took up less space than a pullover, allowing more freedom of movement and less jamming fabric. A classic win-win situation. Nevertheless, I was suspicious of the slipover for a long time. Half jumper, half waistcoat, but without the decisive feature - sleeves and button placket. The riddle of the meteorological conditions also eluded me: When am I so cold that I want to put a pullover over my T-shirt, but still warm enough that my arms should stay in the air? It didn't matter, because the knitted part had something stuffy, nerdy about it anyway, which was linked in my brain with grandfathers, golfers and businessmen. Not even Alicia Silverstone aka Cher Horowitz in "Clueless" could change that, who first served me up the sweater as something fashionably feminine in the late nineties.

Meine erste modische Pullunder-Berührung: Alicia Silverstone in «Clueless».
Source: Instagram @cher.horowitz.clueless

No, it took a few more decades, people and brands to convince me of the merits of the sleeveless jumper - or should I say buttonless waistcoat? - of the sleeveless sweater. But Tyler, The Creator, Harry Styles, Emma Chamberlain, Ganni and Acne Studios have done it: I'm into grandpa chic and therefore honestly not only sad that summer is slowly coming to an end. Because, and I've also learned this in the meantime, what's coming now is meteorologically the ideal time window for the sweater. Somewhere between late summer and early autumn, when the sun and the clouds are not yet in complete agreement about who gets the most airtime, the temperatures oscillate uncertainly between already-yet-warm and still-a-little-cool, and people are so happy to reach for their ominous transitional jacket.

Tyler, The Creator ist cool. Genau wie sein Pullunder.
Source: Instagram @feliciathegoat

Auch Influencerin Emma Chamberlain trägt Opa-Strick. — Tyler, The Creator ist cool. Genau wie sein Pullunder.
Source: Instagram @feliciathegoat

It has remained a little nerdy, but instead of golf clubs or briefcases, today's sweater is paired with smartphones, colourful It-bags and colour-coordinated sunglasses. I go along with it and finally don't feel "clueless" at all. And if there's still a draught on my exposed arms, I still have my transitional jacket with me. With plenty of freedom of movement in the sleeves. As I said, it's a classic win-win situation - I've come to terms with it.

Auftaktbild: Imaxtree

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