Fashion Is an Honest Sweater

IT wasn't the strawberry malt or the tight skirt or the high-heeled shoes or her all-American good looks. It was the bright red sweater 16-year-old Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner was wearing--and amply filling--that attracted the attention of Hollywood Editor William Wilkerson in Hollywood's Top Hat Malt Shop 35 years ago. "How would you like to be in pictures?" he asked Julia Jean. Within a year she had been transformed into Sweater Girl Lana Turner, and the lowly, utilitarian sweater had been established as a basic part of the American female's wardrobe.

If sweaters made Lana, Lana also made sweaters; they were a universal fashion by the end of the '30s. Until that time, the sweater was intended almost strictly for warmth, in perfect conformity with its origins in the 19th century, when it was used by athletes intent on working up a healthy sweat. Today, after a lapse of several years, sweater fever is once again gripping the fashion world. In Manhattan, Paris, Los Angeles and London, the young are falling upon gaudily decorated knit tops like moths upon tweed. Top-ranking designers such as Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Valentino and Yves St. Laurent are making the sweater an essential part of their new layered-look lines. Those twin oracles of the fashion world, Vogue and Eugenia Sheppard, agree on its popularity: "Fashion is a sweater this fall," says Eugenia, while Vogue stretches things further to call this "the year of the sweater."

By any account, the sweater is back with a vengeance. Not that it was ever far away: Bryn Mawr matrons can be separated only at gunpoint from their cherished cashmere twin sets, and skiers have always been attached to bright, bulky, over-everything pullovers. Generally, however, sweater styles run in cycles, tight-fitting then bulky, and the current trend favors the very slim--for both the wearer and the worn. The baggy Shetlands of the '50s, for example, are now rarely in evidence. "It's the European fit we see now," says New York City Designer Stan Herman. "Much of it comes from the French and the Italians."

Phony Bras. Snug as the new sweaters may be, this fall's sweater girl goes braless and presents a considerably more natural effect than the Lana Turner model of yesteryear. Says Adrian Garland, of Beverly Hills' Mr. G. shop: "The new sweaters go well with the new woman. They're honest because they're tight. But they don't depend on the old, phony bras."

Since late summer, sweater sales have soared. Says a Saks Fifth Avenue spokesman: "Sweaters have been fantastic all over the store." In Saks' junior department, the most popular examples have been the ribbed turtleneck, the flat knit with the plain round neck, and the sleeveless "shrinks"--short, tight numbers. In the designer departments, the bestsellers have been Anne Klein's high-necked sweater with buttons on the shoulders and Bill Blass's long-sleeved U-neck. "When we get in a new shipment from either one," says a Saks spokesman, "they're almost gone by the end of the day." Other top-ranking New York stores like Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor and Henri Bendel are also having trouble keeping sweaters in stock. An equally impressive testimonial to sweater popularity is the experience of Mr. G. in Beverly Hills. "Three years ago," says Garland, "we were selling 25 dresses for every sweater. Today we don't even carry dresses: our whole store is crammed with sweaters."

Eye-Deceivers. There are many reasons for the new sweater enthusiasm. Selections in both color and style are wider than ever. In both London and New York, a big seller is the dolman (or batwing) version, which has long, wide sleeves growing out of its wide waistband. There are snug, armless sweater tubes and long sweater dresses. Many sweaters now sport knitted-in portraits of people or animals. Betsey Johnson's "ecology" line features trees and fish; Giorgio di Sant'Angelo portrays a plane taking off. Stan Herman's trompe 1'oeil sweater dresses have fake belts and scarves knitted into the material. Others contrast jazzy colors, stripes and polka dots in dazzling juxtaposition. "Sweaters are completely different now," says Sant'Angelo. "We have these fabulous synthetic yarns and colors." Says Herman: "Sweaters are the only way to dress."

For enthusiasts who want to stand out in exclusive designs, an American expatriate in London is putting out a line of sweaters that are literally works of art. "About a year ago," says Mike Ross, "it suddenly occurred to me that if people were beginning to buy multiple art in the form of signed lithographs, why wouldn't they buy it in the form of sweaters?" He promptly commissioned four top British artists to design sweaters--and now, after a "nightmare" period devoted to making colors and patterns accurate, the work-of-art sweaters are selling at $96 apiece, each packed in a box with a stainless-steel rim, polystyrene backing and a clear plastic front, so that they can be hung on a wall when not hung on an owner.

It has been left to Paris, however, to provide the ultimate example of the fashionable sweater fad. At a recent fashion showing, gaping onlookers were spellbound as a young French p.r. girl in the audience peeled during the course of the show. First to be shed was a navy blue cardigan. Then a sleeveless, striped blue pullover fluttered down, followed by a long-sleeved sweater. Au fond was a sleeveless, almost backless silky knit navy turtleneck --a dazzling outfit clearly designed for energetic dancing at top chic nightclubs as the evening wears on.

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