I’ve promised my boyfriend after two months of grumbling, stumbling, grimaces that I will no longer be really grumpy on a Monday morning, so it came as a blow when two minutes out of the door we started having an argument about whether or not cardigans are really only for girls.
Yes I know Bill Cosby used to wear them all the time.
(Woah ho, slam on the breaks, I’m going off on a tangent. I believe that the Cosby show has taught me more life lessons than my parents did. I’ve thought a few times about the time that Theo and Cockroach only had one ticket for their favourite TV show and they offered it to each other but Cockroach said yeah, ok, just too soon, which meant that Theo lost out. The lesson here is just be honest with yourself and others about what you want.
It seems I was right; my life lessons weren’t just an accident. Let’s see what the internet or “the truth” says about the Cosby show…
“Bill Cosby had a great deal of creative control over the show, which was unusual for a star at that time. Cosby wanted the program to be educational as well as entertaining, reflecting Cosby’s own background in education. The show has been praised for its portrayal of positive child rearing methods.”
I knew it and that’s why I’m the law abiding, caring, balanced woman I am today.
Just in case you don’t believe me…
“In the first episode, Heathcliff confronts his son about his poor grades and Theo responds that he should accept his son’s weaknesses and love him unconditionally because they are father and son, a typical sentimental idiom in family sitcoms of that time. Heathcliff, however, to the audience’s surprise, immediately and angrily calls this sentiment “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” completely rejecting the notion that loving his son means he must quietly and willingly accept it when the boy does not give his best effort in school, and famously threatened him with the often quoted line, “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.””
Good ol’ Bill Cosby. His nick name is America’s Dad.
Ok back to cardigans)
They were named after a gent in the 1860s.
James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan,
When I think of cardigans, I think twin set and pearls, June Whitfield and school.
Seeing as the 80s has been and gone, I think you have to be a particular sort of man to be able to pull off a cardigan; (err metaphorically. I’m not saying it takes a required level of upper body strength to de-robe) otherwise you might end up looking like Alan Titchmarch.
Maybe I’m wrong; maybe working in an eco-village has given me woolly vision when it comes to wool items. Cardigan wearing men of the world, I want to hear from you.
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11 Responses to “Cardies and Cosby”
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Cardigans+boys=BAD
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Well these cardies are obviously illegal and this chap is just plain weird, but he looks rather dapper and with decidedly underwhelming upper body stregnth, no?
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Methinks your bloke my be kinda right - I’ve tried rattling my grey matter as to when I last saw man in a Cardi that wasn’t attached to a hood !!!
I’m afraid they’d be either under the age of 7 or over 60!!! Shame eh sweetie??
One more thing - I can’t for the life of me conjure images of the Cosby show … I can see Bill but alas no one else …. just the ‘Fresh Prince’s lot
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I’m sure there’s a new-era cardigan-wearing man that’s started springing up. I like a band called ‘Kings of Convenience’, they’re pretty cardigany. I have to say I quite like it on certain fellas; I even know a few…eek. Mind you, I like men in skirts. I really dig that kilt-like yet not-tartan look. Scrummy!
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Here they are Don.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelaundry/2713912688/
Posted: Jul 29th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Cardigans on men are actually pretty fashionable at the moment (whether you think its a good fashion or not is a completely different debate - I really think it depends on the man), from all those indie boy bands to celebrities like Mr Beckham.
I’m pretty sure I saw some on sale in Burtons the other day and there are definitely a fair few guys at Uni wearing them.
(On an aside about strange male fashion, my brother’s friend wears such tight skinny jeans, he can’t excercise and lives on the odd pitta bread so he can fit into them?!)
I can’t comment on the Bill Cosby Show as I was only 4 when it finished and didn’t have a tv when I was growing up either… sigh
Posted: Jul 30th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Forget about the Cosby cardigans. The show was certainly educational, that man taught me how to throw the finest dance moves ever seen on a dancefloor.
Unfortunately, it never seems to generate the same whooping and hollering as it did “in front of a live studio audience”.
Posted: Jul 30th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Look what I found.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qduqhCnXtDs
funky
Posted: Jul 30th, 2008 at 10:47 am
*whoops*
*hollers*
It’s all in the speed of the shoulders and accompanying facial gestures. Gotta keep it slow and completely ignore the tempo of the music.
Posted: Jul 30th, 2008 at 11:23 am
It’s actually quite challenging to dance a-rhythmically. Next time you’re in a club, give it a go. It’s hillarious! Much like trying to curl your upper lip on the side you can’t do it.
Posted: Jul 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I’m a man who wears cardigans on a regular basis. Why? Well, I’m proud to say I did wear one when they were decidedly unfashionable, but now the pendulum of fashion has swung in their favour, I do wear them more often (I’m ashamed to say). They’re tremendously versatile; unlike the conventional ‘jumper’, you don’t have to pull them off and on (which does require considerable effort). Simply unbutton / unzip as the temperature requires; a manoeuvre that can often be executed with just the use of one hand. Alternatively, slip them easily off your shoulders when it gets hot. Another advantage of this piece of apparel over the ‘pullover’ is that it doesn’t monopolize the torso.
A cardigan may be worn open or partially fastened to display your choice of undershirt, providing a sometimes playful contrast between the two. Are they just for girls? Well, there is something feminine about the (fashionable) extra-fine wool buttoned variety, though post- modern man should not fear this. The unfashionable* chunky, snowflake patterned zip cardigan is more conventionally manly. I hope that helps.
*at time of writing.