Description
Jean Howell, older sister of better-known designer Margaret Howell, shared her sister’s love of traditional British textile crafting elements like those seen in this late 1960s or early 70s sweater vest. They both appreciated classic handknits and quality garments made to be lived in and to last a lifetime! Although Margaret went on to become the more well-known today, Jean Howell contributed to her sister’s fashion design career in its early days, circa 1969-1970. Jean Howell’s take on a traditional handknit wool V-neck jumper, this sleeveless sweater vest features colorful stripes and checks in deep red, orange, gold, mint green, pastel pink, and dark navy blue (so dark it almost looks black). The medium-weight wool knit is finished with a 4-inch-wide band of ribbed trim at the high-hip-length hem, and a narrower band of ribbing at the arm openings and V neckline. The vest is unlined and pulls on over the head with no fastenings. This very traditional handknit sweater vest closely resembles the styles and colors of 1920s and 1930s handknit sweaters and jumpers—enough so that it could probably pass for a garment of that era, without the label inside alerting us to its true origin.
The sweater vest, like the true hand-knit textile that it is, has a few imperfections or “flaws”. A couple of tiny knots (see the most visible at left front bust, in my close-up photo) in the knit texture are only noticeable by feel, and it also has a couple of dropped stitches, here and there. The sweater is in very good condition, excellent aside from the minor knitting flaws mentioned, freshly dry-cleaned and ready for many more years of wear. This true vintage Jean Howell handknit sweater or sleeveless jumper epitomizes the slouchy chic and gender fluid “Annie Hall” style that was popular later in the 1970s—and which her younger sister Margaret Howell helped to popularize with her eponymous label!
Size: approx. modern XS.
All measurements below given unstretched and reasonably stretched.
- Bust: 32 inches flat, up to 36.
- Waist: 28 inches flat.
- High hip/hem: 28 inches flat, up to 36.
- Length: 19 inches from back of neck to hem, when laid flat.
- Underarm to waist / hem: 7 inches to top of ribbed waistband. 11 inches to hem.
- Shoulder to shoulder: 11 inches across back, unstretched.
- Label: Jean Howell, 100% Wool
