One of the most famous garments in the world is the Breton sweater. It is no surprise then, that a chess set from Brittany shows sailors in this specific item of clothing. But, what is its origin and why is it so popular?
Future king of England Edward VII wearing a sailors’ uniform, 1846
For a long time, sailors´ uniforms were a bit of a mishmash. Not including officers, sailors usually just wore their daily clothing on board. Wanting to create some uniformity, the new American naval forces introduced a uniform for their sailors in 1817. Slowly but steadily this became custom in Europe as well, in part because of the popular sailor outfits for children. Especially 19th century children of the aristocracy were often depicted in white sailor suits with the unmistakable blue collar on top.
The emperor´s clothes
In France, in 1858, emperor Napoleon III (1808-1873) thought it would be a good idea to dress his sailors in uniforms. The knit sweater underneath the jacket was inspired by the already existing attire of seamen. They had been wearing the marinière, a blue-and-white horizontally striped sailor jumper, ever since the 17th century. The idea behind the stripes was that the combination of blue and white would be more visible in case of a man overboard.
The decree of March 27, 1858, stated that the sweater of the uniform had to contain 21 horizontal white stripes, each measuring 20 millimetres, both on the front and the back. These stripes had to be alternated with 20 horizontal indigo-blue stripes of 10 millimetres. Legend has it that the number of stripes is a tribute to the victories of his late uncle Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon III happened to be the son of Louis Bonaparte, the tiny general´s younger brother and king of the Netherlands from 1806 to 1810. Whether the legend is true or false, the striped sweater has remained part of the French sailors´ uniform up until this day.
Coco Chanel wearing the Breton jumper
Coco Chanel
The popularity of the sailor look outside of the naval forces didn´t stop at children´s fashion. Revolutionary fashion designer Gabrielle ´Coco´ Chanel (1883-1971) changed the fashion industry dramatically and the Breton jumper is one of her translations of work clothes into fashion. She grew up with the corset but took a different course in a time of technological advances and modernisation. Cars ostracised carriages, the Great War proved that engineering had changed the way of warfare forever and women claimed their right to vote.
In fashion, women threw off their oppressive corsets and long dresses. They wore Chanel´s revolutionary straight shirt dresses, trousers and sports- and swimwear instead. All these clothes were made of new, comfortably fitting fabrics. It was unheard of and the garments showed a lot more skin than had been the fashion. It was mainly young women who sported the new garçon look: they cut their long hair into short, boyish crops and danced the Charleston like there was no tomorrow.
Foreign name
The war (1914-1918) marked the beginning of a new era and more and more women would buy fashion that was based on work clothes. The Breton sweater hasn´t gone out of fashion ever since it was introduced by Chanel and can be found at the Chessmen Museum too. The name ´Breton sweater´ however is only used in translations: in France this jumper still goes by the name of marinière. This has got to do with the factories in Brittany that have manufactured the sweater for the Navy since the end of the 19th century. Some of these factories still exist and continue to produce the sweaters.
