Mister Rogers wore it well
‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’ a reminder of iconic sweater
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” is coming our way shortly, a film starring Tom Hanks as the beloved Mister Fred Rogers in a movie that many critics are covering with accolades, and a must for the holiday season.
It’s based on the real-life friendship between journalist Tom Junod, who was commissioned to write a profile on the famous TV star Fred Rogers for Esquire and the film follows the amazing friendship that blossoms between the two. Word is the movie is all about being respected, feeling special — and feeling loved.
What many don’t realize is Rogers had an almost equally famous sidekick: his cardigan. For more than three decades, Rogers would start each episode of his famous “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” singing his famous song, “Won’t You Be My
Neighbor?” while changing into his ubiquitous cardigan — many made by his own mom — and slipping on tennis shoes, a gesture that earned his cardigan a place of honour in the Smithsonian Museum and cultivating a fashion trend that continues to reverberate to this day.
From Rogers to Kurt Cobain to Jimmy Carter, few fashion items have had as much power or mass appeal as this humble sweater-type covering. Some are made of pure wool, others of cotton, polyester or blends, and range in price from a conservative $10 (if you’re hunting previously enjoyed) to thousands of dollars.
Just recently, Rogers’ widow, Joanne Rogers visited a women’s hospital in Pittsburgh and was greeted by the sight of a row of newborn babies, all sporting red cardigans as a nod to her late husband and to celebrate World Kindness and Cardigan Day.
According to Poshmark, the largest online social marketplace for fashion, “like many fashion staples, the cardigan of today originated out of necessity. The cardigan emerged as a variation of a military jacket in the 1850s and is now considered a musthave item.”
In fact, the cardigan is steeped in history, first appearing on the scene in 1854, when James Thomas Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan (yes, you heard that right), was considered a war hero and popularized his signature style: a knitted waistcoat. He wore the original cardigan.
Rogers started wearing a selection starting in 1968, followed by then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter who, in 1977, famously wore a cardigan for his televised speech about the energy crisis in the U.S. The late Cobain, Nirvana frontman, wore a vintage green cardigan for his world-famous performance on the MTV series, Unplugged, in New York back in 1993. And Ryan Reynolds — who helped popularize wearing a cardigan beneath a blazer, was named GQ’s Man of the Year back in 2016.
And just this year, Tyler, the Creator — known for his style and cardigan collection — headlined his first performance at Madison Square Garden for a cardigan-clad audience!
Rogers wore his signature red cardigan but, according to poshmark.com, “after his mother could no longer knit his cardigans, the low-cost production team procured zip-up cardigans from the same company that supplied them to the USPS and dyed them vivid colours in a soup pot.”
Carter’s famous cardigan is now on display at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Ga., while, according to People magazine, Cobain’s was recently auctioned for an astonishing and record-breaking $334,000.
And Reynolds can still be spotted rocking his favourite knitwear.