Guernsey (clothing)
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A guernsey, or gansey, is a seaman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name, sometimes known as a knit-frock in Cornwall, especially Polperro.<ref>Mary Wright, Cornish Guernseys & Knit-frocks, 1979, 2008 Polperro Heritage Press</ref>
Origins
The guernsey is the mainstay of Guernsey's knitting industry which can be dated back to the late 15th century when a royal grant was obtained to import wool from England and re-export knitted goods to Normandy and Spain. Peter Heylin described the manufacture and export of "waste-cotes" during the reign of Charles I. The first use of the name "guernsey" outside of the island <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is in the 1851 Oxford Dictionary,Template:Clarify but the garment was in use in the bailiwick before that.<ref name="marr">Marr, L.J. (1982), A History of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Philmore & Co. Ltd</ref>
The guernsey was traditionally knitted by the fishermen's wives and the pattern passed down from mother to daughter through the generations. While commercially available sweaters are machine knit, the final finishing of these machine-knit parts is completed by hand.<ref name="storyguernsey">Template:Cite web</ref>
Mary Wright argues that the use and wearing of guernseys throughout the British Isles for over a century and a half almost justifies the guernsey for qualification as a national costume.<ref name="Wright">Wright, M. (1989) Cornish Guernseys and Knit-froks, Alison Hodge/Ethnographica Ltd.</ref> A guernsey from the Folk Museum Guernsey was included in the 2010 BBC project A History of the World in 100 Objects.<ref name="bbc">"BBC 'A History of the World'"[1] accessed 23 June 2011</ref>
The term can also refer to a similarly shaped garment made of woven cloth, also called a Guernsey shirt or smock. There are a number of different names for the same garments, for instance Guernsey frock, Guernsey shirt, smock-frock, or fisherman’s frock. Essentially these are all the same garment, with the materials varying based on the purpose for which it is worn.<ref name="guernseyfrock">"The Guernsey Shirt, Smock or Frock"Template:Cite web accessed 6 July 2011</ref>
Pattern
Two styles of guernsey exist: a plain "working" guernsey and a "finer" example that was generally saved for special occasions and Sunday-best attire.<ref name="Lambert">Lambert, G.A. (2002) The Taxonomy of Sweater Structures and Their Origins, Raleigh</ref> Traditionally, Ganseys were seamless and worked in the round using the circular knitting method.
The "working" guernsey design was kept simpler in order to reduce the amount of time and materials needed to produce. The sale of knitted garments to supplement family income was important to many island families and thus the garments that were sold were also of a simple design. It is estimated that a total of 84 hours was needed to complete a guernsey: a simpler design could be produced faster than a more elaborate one.<ref name="Pearson">Pearson, M. (1984) Traditional Knitting:Aran, Fair Isle and Fisher Ganseys, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company</ref>
Twenty-four principal patterns have been identified in Cornwall alone, each one again drawing inspiration from ropes, chains, waves, nets and sand-prints.<ref name="Wright"/>
Worn as a source of pride and often knitted by prospective wives "to show the industrious nature of the woman he was about to marry", the "finer" guernsey was more elaborately patterned than its working cousin.<ref name="Lambert"/> With the advent of the machine-knitted guernsey and the decline in the knitting industry, this guernsey is a much rarer sight.
It is not uncommon for a guernsey to last several decades and be passed down in families. Guernseys knitted for children were knitted to be "grown into" and often came down to the knee.<ref name="Wright"/>
Use in the British Armed Forces
The guernsey was first widely used in the rating uniform of the 19th-century British Royal Navy.<ref>"The History of Rating Uniforms"Template:Cite web accessed 6 May 2008</ref><ref>"Traditional Guernsey knitwear and genuine Alderney sweaters from the Channel Islands"[2] accessed 6 May 2008</ref> It is said that guernseys were worn at the Battle of Trafalgar (although these were probably made from woollen cloth, rather than knitted<ref name="guernseyfrock"/>).
Orders for variants of the guernsey have also come from the Intelligence Corps, the Mercian Regiment, the Tank Regiment and Gurkha Logistics where they form part of officer uniforms.<ref>"The guernsey becomes a fashion must-have" [3] Template:Webarchive accessed 22 June 2011</ref>
Export market
Guernseys are still being knitted for local use and export. Japan is at present one of the biggest export markets. In January 2025 NHK (Japan's national TV network) came to Guernsey to make a documentary about the island's famous knitwear.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Use in other languages
The translation for the word "jumper" or "sweater" in the Goidelic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, are "geansaí",<ref>Template:Citation</ref> "geansaidh"<ref>Template:Citation</ref> and "gansee"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> respectively, all borrowings from the English guernsey/gansey. The Norwegian word "genser" is derived from "guernsey" and means sweater or jumper. In Danish a guernsey is called a "sømandstrøje", meaning a seaman's sweater.
See also
References
External links
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