Harley was the subject of a recent thread. Identified by Jamgood as a maker of powerloomed Scottish sweaters, now possibly out of business. That's a good price, but not a true Fair Isle.

 

Harley is the real deal, Bahle's carry them, I got a beautiful blue one recently. Thing is beautiful, This seems like a good deal so I ordered one. Thanks for posting. Funny I don't think I had heard of Fair Isle until a few weeks ago. Shipping was high, $14. Under details, it said "Made in Scotland of supersoft Shetland wool." Not sure I would describe Shetland wool that way. I will report back. I think it was Trip who said that Fair Isle sweaters never go on sale, so I thought this was worth a look.

 

I am not sure if there is a controversy here but I will wade in. I would say it is a good price for a made in Scotland product when bought at retail. A sweater made in one of the Faire Isle patterns can be made anywhere. RL proves it every day. A sweater like the Harley is the equivalent of say a regular Shetland made in Scotland. I think what Rambler is getting at are the hand knit sweaters from the Shetlands(Faire Isle) in Faire Isle patterns. These sweaters as you can imagine are priced commensurate with the handwork involved. I came across this link

 

Yes: I certainly didn't mean to say anything negative about Harley, or that nice-looking Nat Geo sweater. Just being pedantic. The nicest hand-knit pattern I've seen in a while is the one Fiddler is working on, posted a few weeks ago.

 

LOL I think pedantic is my natural state of being. I think it is good to know that there is a range of options. I think I missed the Fiddler one (?)

If I can take this in a different direction, I hope Jamgood could comment on this, I remember an RL Faire Island sweater that was made around 1986 that was featured in an Esquire article on Faire Islands sweaters. I saw it for real on someone in 1989 and it was lovely. I know nothing about it but would like to hear details if known.

Yes: I certainly didn't mean to say anything negative about Harley, or that nice-looking Nat Geo sweater. Just being pedantic. The nicest hand-knit pattern I've seen in a while is the one Fiddler is working on, posted a few weeks ago.

 

LOL I think pedantic is my natural state of being. I think it is good to know that there is a range of options. I think I missed the Fiddler one (?)

If I can take this in a different direction, I hope Jamgood could comment on this, I remember an RL Faire Island sweater that was made around 1986 that was featured in an Esquire article on Faire Islands sweaters. I saw it for real on someone in 1989 and it was lovely. I know nothing about it but would like to hear details if known.

Polo's proffered so much varied Fair Isle style knitwear that's impossible for me fuzzy memory to address. Sawray.

My photo colors are way off on this (fey? nay!) F.I style weskit knitted in Scotland and appearing under a tweed jacket in a mid-'80s "M" magazine pictorial featuring clothes from various men's stores - perhaps Perkins-Shearer of Denver in this case, I believe. This one had been about $225 (2010 CPI $457- Whoa!) reduced to $57 end-of-season at a central S.C. store. Tightly spun Shetland, with a crisp hand, in about 12 colors. Wouldn't be surprized if it was made by Harley. The same sweater retailed for about £225 in London at that time, go figure.

Here's a 1981 Polo catalog picture of Scottish knit Fair Isle styles, priced $130-$245.

Recent monochromatic cashmere Faux Isle knitted by a wee Guangdong granny.

Here's the one what made Fair Isle knitwear popular in the '20s. It was worn shooting golfs. In the mid '90s Lands' End catalogued similar hand-framed versions made on Shetland of Shetland and retailing around $150. They ocassionally fly under the eBay radar. The lower $11 eBayed one I bought a couple of years ago was disappeared by the Post Office without apology. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Reports of Fair Isle knitwear actually being knitted on the small island of F.I., whether hand-knit or hand-framed, seem to vary from year to year. Most "genuine" Fair Isle knitwear seems to actually be knitted in the Shetlands by a diminishing breed, a few years ago at demand exacerbated prices.

It's difficult to discern the true colors of the Nat Geo Harley sweater from the photo. I would have no qualms with the quality - but the ribbing doesn't project a bespectled granny knittin' by the peatfire aspect.

Fair Islian Dignitaries in the Depends™ Grunt'n'Fart Contest
High Water & Hankie Headwear Festival, 1983

(Composed without the aid of GrammarCheck or SpellCheck.)

 

Thanks Rambler, C,sharp, sorry to be misleading. I didn't not know the difference; I'm glad ya'll cleared that up.

Those are some great looking sweaters Jamgood, you might get some ebay competition. :icon_smile_wink:

 

Jamgood,

Thank you much for your input. I know I have the old article somewhere just need to find it. Then someone brighter then myself can tell how to share the scan.
I went back and tried on an old pair of Polo, made in the USA trousers that I wore in college, I was surprised they fit because they had not fit for a long time. They look like a herringbone Donegal(lots of colored flecks that seem to live in harmony. Yes, some sort of pleat and a beaded seam. Brought back memories. I remember wearing them with Bean boots, BB button down and a wool Tennis sweater. It was Leon Bean meets F. Scott Fitzgerald. Most of the time in the outfit I looked like I just stepped off a Jazz age ice pond. If it was over the top no one ever said so. I think you or someone else had a catalog scan that showed the pants but when I went searching the photos seemed to be dead.

 

Jamgood: thanks for the post, superb, as always. The picture of the prince, which I believe kicked off the FI as a widely known style is matchless. The younger brother, Tristan (I think), the vet in All Creatures Great and Small, always wore beauties. Below a recent picture of a recent acquisition from the delightful Spirit of Shetland website, cottage-made in the shetlands, but "hand framed," so it has seams, but kind of real looking anyway, and at $135 ppd, a value:

 

Just placed an order -- after all these years, my girlfriend's National Geographic discount pays off!

 

post us a photo when you get it, jas.

 

Brooks has some nice ones this fall:

https://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCa...oductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=557&Parent_id=224&Product_Id=1474820

https://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCa...erchant_Id=1&Section_Id=557&Parent_id=224&Product_Id=1475258&default_color=Navy

I still love the one I got from BB about 5 years ago - looks a LOT like the one on PoW above.