Figure 1.--The boy on the right wears the every day school uniform at this prep school which included a red sweater/jumper. After classes in the afternoon the boys could chasnge into casual clothes. The boy on the lerft wears the school sweatshirt with cord jeans.

Another complication is the discussing the terminology concerning sweaters and jumoers is the appearrance of sweatshirts at English schools during the 1990s. The origin of the sweatshirt is American. It was a garment used in athletics. It had a kind of a cotton fleece lining to absorb the sweat involved in strenous workouts. Sweatshirts are of course pullovers. I am not sure, however, if they are called pullovers. British school pullovers are also commonly callefd jumpers. I an not sure if sweatshirts are evere referred to as jumpers. Language is fluid. Our reader adds, "I looked up a definition for sweatshirt - 'A usually long-sleeved, collarless, oversize pullover made traditionally of heavy cotton jersey that has a fleeced backing.' So they say "pullover" but we would never call a sweatshirt a jumper which is always wool/wool-type material not cotton." Here I am not sure. I see a lot of cotton or blended acrylic fiber sweaters in America. I'm not sure about Britain. One reader tells us that a lot of inexpensive school sweaters/jumpers are made with blended acrylic fabric rather than wool. Sweatshirts became very popular at Britidsh schools during the 1990s.

Origin

The origin of the sweatshirt is American. It was a garment used in athletics. It had a kind of a cotton fleece lining to absorb the sweat involved in strenous workouts. The original athletic sweatshirt for some reason was always grey. Gradually it became worn by boys as more of a casual garment, being less expensive than a wool sweater. This is when they begn to appear in colors.

Pullovers

Sweatshirts are of course pullovers. I am not sure, however, if they are called pullovers. British school pullovers are also commonly callefd jumpers. I an not sure if sweatshirts are evere referred to as jumpers. Language is fluid. A British reader writes, "No, a jumper and a pullover sweater would be the same thing (knitted). They are also called just pullover. A sweatshirt would be like a tracksuit top - but without a zipped front. So while you did pull it on over your head , it wasn't a pullover (as I knew it). In fact I never heared the term "sweatshirt" until quite recently." Another reader writes, "I think some people do call sweatshirts jumpers, but it's a lazy way of doing it (like calling all vacuum cleaner's HOOVERS or all personal stereos WALKMANS). I don't think it's the correct term." HBC is unsure how common the usage is.

Definition

Our reader adds, "I looked up a definition for sweatshirt - 'A usually long-sleeved, collarless, oversize pullover made traditionally of heavy cotton jersey that has a fleeced backing.' So they say "pullover" but we would never call a sweatshirt a jumper which is always wool/wool-type material not cotton." Here I am not sure. I see a lot of cotton or blended acrylic fiber sweaters in America. I'm not sure about Britain. One reader tells us that a lot of inexpensive school sweaters/jumpers are made with blended acrylic fabric rather than wool.

Popularity

Sweatshirts became very popular at Britidsh schools during the 1990s. Our British reader writes, "As you probably know many state schoools (secondary as well as primary) have sweatshirts with the school logo on them instead of blazers and/or jumpers. That is a fairly new thing because when I was a boy garments like that would be seen as "sportswear" and not at all suitable for school - and as I say I don't think that they even existed for boys - although tracksuits did. I hope that I haven't confused you even further!" Yes I am sure you are right, at least up to the 1990s. Some prep schools were using them for casual wear after class. Other schools were using them to replace jumpers, especially schools that didn't require ties. A factor here was the rising cost of wool sweaters. I think the relatively low price of a sweatshirt compared to a wool sweater is a factor here. Also sweatshirts can be made in the school color and have the school name and logo inexpensively added.

Sweastshirt

I got the impression that many schools were adding sweatshirts to the school uniform, although I am not sure what they were called. Perhaps other HBC readers will have further insights on sweatshirts. A reader tells us, "They're called sweatshirts and nearly all primary school uniforms now include sweatshirts and many secondary too." Another reader tells us, "There are bunches of firms in the UK offering sweatshirts (by that name) in all sizes and varieties, so I would judge that sweatshirts are called just that." A British reader tells us that the term "sweatshirt" is commonly used a British schools. The term is a little jarring with older Brits. As on reader tells us "'sweat' was not a term much used in my youth. The more recent sweatshirt seems to be a combination of shirt and sweater, usually worn next to the skin and with no other upper garment. Whereas at one time layers with trapped air between were considered the best insulation, new fibres have allowed us the freedom of wearing just one layer most of the time." Well the original sweatshirts worn for atletic workouts might be worn without a shirt/vest underneath, but as a article od casual and school wear, it is usually worn with a shirt.

School Types

Our British readers report that sweatshirts have become quite common at state schools in Britisain, both promary and secondary schools. They are worn to class much as jumpers were once worn, by both boys and girls. I'm less sure about private schools. We note some prep schools with sweatshirts in the 1990s. Threy were mostly worn as a casual garment after classes. We suspect that a few schools now have sweatshirts rather than jumpers for the reverday school uniform. We do not know hiw common this was. We do not know to what extent they are worn at public (private secondry) schools.

Created: 10:00 PM 4/20/2006
Last updated: 10:00 PM 4/20/2006