LIFE photographer Nina Leen had a sure eye for fashion. And when the temperatures dropped, she often turned that eye toward what was a relatively new way to dress for the change in seasons.
Today sweaters are a staple of a fall/winter wardrobe, but it was not always the case. The sweater first came into use as sportswear, and it was only around the 1920s that it made the transition to everyday clothing.
A story that Leen shot in 1945 showed its tenuous place that sweaters held in America’s closets at the time. The story talked about sweaters as jockeying for status with a loose-fitting (and similar-looking) piece of clothing known as the “sloppy Joe.”
“Having floated around for years in `sloppy Joes,’ girls are getting back into sweaters, which fit more trimly,” wrote LIFE in its Dec. 3, 1945 issue. The sweaters in that particular shoot were Jacquard sweaters, so named for their particular weaving process, and the story discussed how their look had changed as the makers aimed toward a more domestic market. The versions that had been made for sportsmen tended to decorated with snowflakes and deer and the like, but “the new patterns this year reflect the interests of young girls—telephone numbers, boys’ names, toy animals and boogie-woogie motifs.”
The sweaters in Leen’s 1947 shoot featured even more colorful designs, including one with a knife piercing a bleeding heart.
But in shoots done by Leen in 1949 and 1952, the sweaters become sleeker and more mature. The 1952 shoot featured a plain black sweater worn by a model, Mary Cheseboro Phipps, who was a noted socialite and husband of writer Thomas W. Phipps. That shoot made clear—sweaters were growing up.
But as the ugly sweater phenomenon shows, wild designs will always be a part of the sweater culture.
A LIFE fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A LIFE 1945 fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A LIFE fashion shoot on Jacquard sweaters, 1945.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A 1945 story on Jacquard sweaters.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A 1945 story on Jacquard sweaters.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A fashion shoot on crazy sweaters, 1947.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sweater fashion shoot for LIFE, 1949.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Women with stylish cuts wearing classic knitwear cardigans, 1952.
Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A 1952 sweater fashion shoot for LIFE.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A model wore a classic knitted cardigan, 1952.
Nina Leen?Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Socialite Mary Chesebro Phipps wore a cashmere scooped neck sweater combined with a brocade skirt, 1952.
Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
