ANALYSISThe sexual charge of this icon to which the cinema contributed is both a review of the canons of beauty of the s. XX as one more example of the exacerbated machismo of the time

By Núria Luis

Tight, with two tiny buttons or a logo as a closure, and nothing underneath. In 2021, both celebrities and fashion (thanks, Jacquemus) have established the cardigan as the sexiest garment in the wardrobe. Reasons are not lacking for this new conception of the garment, if we take into account the modest twin-sets that defined the female wardrobe of the mid-20th century. Wearing it without a bra and showing part of the chest, like Bella Hadid, takes this jacket to new heights of unspoken sensuality.

But as is often the case over and over again in history, the cardigan isn't exactly the first knitwear to become a symbol of sexy. In fact, we are preceded by a long list of women who have been labeled "Sweater girl" as a synonym for that other qualifier known as "sex symbol." There was a time when this garment was the epitome of sexiness, but with a very specific silhouette: the sweater worn was more of a short- or long-sleeved knit piece that hugged the body to showcase every curve of the body. woman as a sculpture.

Let's put ourselves in a situation: the canon of beauty came from extolling in the 20s a rather androgynous female body type, which drew chest, waist and hips practically with a straight line. Fashion also contributed to this ideal with garments that hung from the shoulders in free fall to mid-calf or to the ground. Before Christian Dior became obsessed with emphasizing the waist in 1949, a woman's profile brought out those natural curves. The cinema contributed greatly to this new canon, and the costumes of the films also became a source of inspiration for couturiers. However, glamorous dresses were not the only reference: the casual wardrobe was also capable of attracting attention.

Hollywood was precisely responsible for putting the Sweater Girl in the spotlight of the mass public. As an effective marketing tool, the mecca of cinema had pigeonholed its most illustrious stars. Thus, Clara Bow was for example the 'It Girl', while Ann Sheridan was the 'Oomph Girl'. Lana Turner was the first official 'Sweater Girl', a nickname she earned when she appeared in the film They Wo n't Forget (1937). The actress wasn't even the lead: she had a small role in which she was shot while walking down the street. But those minutes in which she wore a knitwear were worth it to arouse interest among the male audience.

She was only 16 years old, but that did not matter to the cinema. Nor to the press. The sexualizing of adolescents is a very long and tedious story that can be glimpsed among the comments of the time. “She was the Sweater Girl. She was what American youth expected from a rising movie star. Okay, she might not have looked like any high school girl, but she did look like the high school girl every high school boy fantasized about. She was the girl with whom the recruits of any naval battle would have wanted to be shipwrecked on a desert island, ”Life magazine wrote in December 1940. By then Turner had already appeared in a few more films, but after her debut she rejected at that time both the label and the garment: "He refuses to wear a sweater in front of a camera, even in advertising frames, and is generally opposed to clothing that reveals or emphasizes the development of his chest," commented the publication in that same reportage.

Over time, the term Sweater Girl came to be used to refer to more actresses like Veronica Lake. Her curves and her explosive beauty were enhanced even more thanks to those knitwear with a huge erotic charge for men. Something like the idea of ​​"the girl next door", but transferred to the stylistic field. For example, during a radio recording in 1944, comedian Bob Hope introduced Judy Garland as "that lovely Sweater Girl." In the session Judy was asking Bob why men go so crazy over sweater girls. He replied that he didn't know: "That's a mystery I'd love to solve." The sweater girls also made the most outrageous news: in 1949 the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper blamed low-cut necklines for an increase in sexual crimes. In the piece she reflected that men "no longer saw women as inviolable", echoing the statements of a Pittsburgh officer: "The real problem is the bobby-soxers", she said, referring to the adolescents of the moment . “They are Sweater girls, just girls showing off their curves. And they seem to like it. What kind of mothers and wives are they going to be?” she pondered.

The cinema (and the male gaze) would continue to contribute to the evolution of the Sweater Girl, with an image more in keeping with the prominent bust of stars of the 50s such as Gina Llogobrigida or Elizabeth Taylor. One of the essential anecdotes involves another girl in a sweater, Jane Russell, when she began shooting the film The Outlaw in 1943. Its director, producer and aircraft designer Howard Hughes, felt that the camera was not bringing out its full potential by actress's neckline After complaining to the locker room about her, she sat down at her desk to design a bra using bridge building engineering principles. Russell patiently accepted the “Cantilever bra”, although she never got to put it on stage: “When I tried it on it was uncomfortable, ridiculous. Obviously what he [Hughes] wanted is what is known today as a seamless bra, which didn't exist back then. I just put on my own bra, covered the seams with scarves, moved the straps to the side, and put on my own blouse,” the artist confessed on her day.

That bra would lay the groundwork for another piece of lingerie that did go ahead. Towards the end of the 1940s, the firm Maidenform began to market its Chansonette bra, whose ballistic shape is associated with the 'bullet bra' or torpedo bra. Its conical design gave a much more pronounced and pointed shape to the bust. And that, logically, was much more noticeable under the clothes: the effect under a tight knit garment was that of a very artificial chest that also came to define the Sweater Girl. Mamie van Doren, Diana Dors or Jayne Mansfield were some of the divas who wore sweaters over this type of tight-fitting bra, even with long sleeves and a turtleneck.

Marilyn Monroe, of course, was another of the graphic definitions of these mid-century icons. The sensuality of the actress was also present in her wardrobe through knitted sweaters, a garment that catapulted her to her sex symbol status. By the time Norma Jean (her real name) was going to school, the girls were wearing the button-front cardigan over a white blouse. She eliminated both the bra and the blouse from the equation: she took this garment, in red, and placed it directly on her chest, with the buttons at her back. The future diva baptized it as her “magic sweater”. In December 1944, while working in a factory, her appearance caught the attention of David Conover, a photographer who asked if he could photograph her. He asked her to put on a sweater, since she was taking “morale-boosting” pictures, and her body shape needed to be taught. She put on a red one that she had on hand. Within two years she became one of the most popular models on the West Coast and landed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox.

By the middle of the decade the concept was established for any girl who wore knitwear. In November 1957, Life magazine even used the expression "Sweater girls" to designate beauties of the European aristocracy such as Princess Hercolani, Viscountess de Ribes or Countess Consuelo Crespi. “These sweaters will be available in the United States starting this winter, and should give some ideas to American girls, who have always considered themselves the original Sweater Girl,” they commented. A decade later, the reference would have to conform to a new type of female canon, less voluptuous and more androgynous. It was the '60s: “Remember the Sweater Girl from the '40s? Thank god she's back. Softer, subtler, and just as well-proportioned”, the publication wrote in 1964 to refer to the English model Jean Shrimpton.

Sexism was also primed with girls in sweaters on the street. One of the most famous cases was that of Francine Gottfried, who went down in history in 1968 as the “Wall Street Sweater Girl”. At 21, this young woman worked as a data processor at the Chemical Bank New York Trust Company, and she always took the same route to go to the office. Her physique, especially her bust, drew the attention of men as she passed by. As the days passed, more and more men lined up outside the subway stop to ogle her revealing knit sweaters. According to New York Magazine, as many as 10,000 men crowded near Broad Street to see her. “These people on Wall Street have the responsibility of dealing with millions of dollars and they act like they are crazy,” she commented for the publication. By order of her boss, the day after that horde she did not go to the office. Also, she had to change jobs.

The treatment given to Gottfried did not go unnoticed. In the middle of the second wave, it inspired feminists to carry out the Ogle-in, on June 9, 1970. Under this initiative organized by the activist Karla Jay, several women came together to walk the streets with the purpose of looking lewdly at male passers-by, making loud comments about their bodies. "We tried to show how she feels when they whistle at you and sexually humiliate you all the time when you go down the street," commented one of the participants in a statement collected in the documentary she's beautiful when she's angry (2014). "We don't want to be sex objects anymore."

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