When you think of each of these movies chances are these are not the sweaters that pop into your head. But they should be! I’m going to explore knitwear that is continuously overlooked because a much more iconic item of knitwear steals the show. Maybe this will inspire you to take a second look at these movies. Each of these movies is going to get their own posts eventually. But, those posts will most likely focus on the other more popular knits. So this is a moment for the underdogs to shine!
(original post date March 29th, 2019)
1. \”Shut up, please. I am very busy and important.\”
-Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones’s sweater is one of my favorite cardigans on film. This one always gets overshadowed by Mark Darcy’s ugly Christmas sweater. Now when you search for \”Bridget Jones knitwear\” this post will come up alongside the hundreds of pictures of the reindeer jumper that Mark’s mom knits for him. So, you’re welcome! This cardigan is pretty great in its own right. Bridget throws it on in the last scene of the movie along with her running shoes as she chases after Mark through the snowy streets in her genuinely tiny tiger-striped knickers. It’s a classic Bridget scene. But the reindeer jumper definitely makes a louder impression. If you’re looking to add this Jones must have to your closet you should test out The Autumnal Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. It might be worth it just to have by your front door in case of an emergency.
2. \”I don’t want you buying me anything. I don’t want you buying me, period.\”
-Alex Owens
The other Flashdance sweater. Everyone always talks about the sweater scene from Flashdance, I’m probably the only one who thinks of this scene when people say that. Apparently, the people who made posters originally thought that this scene would be more memorable than it was. Even though she only wears this sweater for about two minutes it made it onto a poster to promote the movie. So at least someone appreciated this cozy throw on as much as I do. At first glimpse, I thought that this was another oversized cardigan, but it’s actually closed in the front making this the perfect lazy Sunday sweater. In my opinion, this should have been in more scenes. Luckily Loopy Mango has the perfect cure for my sweater envy. If you want to make this even more of an Alex sweater I would do the whole thing in a 1×1 rib and use their London Fog mohair color.
3. \”I’m not going anywhere I’m going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble\” -Katniss Everdeen
The Hunger Games Catching Fire is the second edition of The Hunger Games franchise and in my (probably unpopular) opinion it’s the best one. Not only does it have the best knitwear in the franchise, but I loved how they dealt with the PTSD that would come with surviving something like that. Everyone always focuses on the crochet half sweater that Katniss wears in the first six minutes of the movie. I was the same way. However, I’m realizing that no matter how well I think I know a movie there is always at least one item of knitwear that I missed on the first pass. Somehow this sweater slipped passed me. By changing up the colors in the Cobble Hill Pullover by Erica Patberg you can get a unique Katniss sweater that no one else will have.
4. “Do you prefer fashion victim or ensembly challenged?”
-Cher Horowitz
When I think about the knitwear of Clueless a few images pop into my head and they all involve cardigans. Cher Horowitz’s yellow plaid outfit with a yellow cardigan is definitely the first image that the movie congers up. I was beginning to forget what a big role cardigans played in my life for most of the early 00’s. At one point I think that my goal was to have one in every color. So when I originally watched this movie the cardigans were the things that made an impression on me and somehow I missed the red sweater vest. My knitwear obsessed brain obviously hadn’t fully developed. That kind of mistake would never happen today. This Magnum yarn Bulky Ribbed Vest by Cascade is a great Cher project. All you have to do is leave off the collar, crop it, and throw on a button-up for good measure.
5. \”Can you believe that? A kid from Oakland walking around and believing in fairytales.\”
-Erik Killmonger
Erik Killmonger’s floor-length black cardigan is one of my favorite knits from Black Panther. I guess I’m just a fan of the underdogs. He doesn’t wear this sweater for a long time in the movie, but it really made an impression on me. The stand out item of knitwear from the movie is definitely Nakia’s infinity scarf that she wears in the scene right before this one. It’s wonderful and has inspired many indie dyers to create gorgeous skeins of yarn. But I think that this sweater deserves some attention too.
Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer for Black Panther, described the process for picking this sweater in an interview with TheRinger.com. \”I took Michael B. Jordan shopping. I didn’t do that with anybody else because everything on everybody else had to look like it was from Wakanda, and Killmonger had to be this unique guy from America. I went to the store ahead of him and I pulled out things that I wanted to try on him, and that sweater was one of them. That sweater, actually, I dyed it black. It was another color, but we made it black because he needed to have something that would sort of make him unique from Wakanda; [he is] this badass arriving in there with a little duffel bag\”.
Such an epic character deserves an equally epic sweater. I’m a big fan of Jacqui Fink’s new line of sustainable yarns and I think that her kpc + Jacqui Fink – Marion longline merino cardigan kit in Black Olive or Charcoal is a good match for your inner Killmonger.
6. \”Oh, God. I look 20 years old!\”
-Nancy Thompson
Oh, Nancy. Nancy made a lot of mistakes in this scene from Nightmare on Elm Street. Who follows a dead body being dragged down a hallway by an invisible man??? I get that she was asleep and things don’t always make sense in our dreams, but I think I would have just stayed in my seat. If I had been Nancy the movie probably would have been ten minutes long and wouldn’t have become the classic that it is.
There were a lot of fashion mistakes too, but that vest wasn’t one of them. Maybe Nancy’s fashion sense is just misunderstood. Cher wears almost the exact same vest and button-down combination and she’s a fashion icon. Should Nancy have paired it with that shirt or those pants? No… but the vest is great. Unfortunately, most people think of Freddie’s striped sweater when they think of the franchise.
I’m not sure if this sweater vest is still a great idea, but I really like the squared-off shape combined with the cables. So I’m going to recommend the Margo Poncho by Elizabeth Smith for a more modern Nancy look. You can even pair it with a button-down if you want to go all out.
7. \”Okay. Can you please spell Gabbana?\”
-Andy Sachs
This sweater is not cerulean. There are a lot of reasons why this sweater was overlooked. Andy’s cerulean sweater famously has an entire monologue written about it. Plus, just like the Nancy sweater, this sweater suffered from the way it was styled. The newsboy cap can be distracting. But if you can look past it you will find a really great David Rodriguez sweater. I must be a bigger fan of button-downs under knitwear than I ever knew. I’m really into the texture on the off the shoulder Bowery Sweater by Laura Zukaite. Plus, it just feels right to pick a New York-themed sweater to go with this movie.
8. \”Go ahead. I’m too cool for you anyway\”
-Knives Chau
This whole movie is a bit of a knitwear underdog. I don’t think it’s really thought of as a knitwear movie. But it should be. Scott’s hat is adorable and the best knitwear from the movie comes from Ramona’s sweaters that match her hair. Scott and Ramona wear more practical knitwear. But I think that Knives is the real star of Scott Pilgrim vs The World and one of the reasons for that is her black and white extra long scarf. I think that for this one you don’t really need a pattern. Just pick up as many skeins of We Are Knitters cotton Pima yarn in Black and Natural as you can and keep knitting until you run out! This is a great side project for when you just feel like knitting and don’t have a project already on your needles.
9. \”Oh that was marvelous. It had the ring of truth\”
-Sunshine Doré
Ok, unpopular opinion, but Sunshine was definitely Harold’s true soulmate. She fakes her death and we don’t get to see more from this love story. She’s the only one that wasn’t phased by Harold’s theatrics and turns them on their head. If this movie had been called Harold and Sunshine we could have gotten a movie full of these bits. I might be the only one who wants that spin-off. This scene with Sunshine is actually my favorite part of this movie. Maybe it was because she’s the only one of his dates to see right through him or maybe it’s because of her Missoni knit top. The most memorable item of knitwear from this movie is Maude’s red hooded scarf. It’s in a lot of the promotional images for the film. Sunshine is only in this movie for a brief moment, but she definitely leaves her mark.
It’s next to impossible to recreate the stripes in a machine knit Missoni sweater. However, I love the zig-zag pattern in The Great Missowski sweater by Julia Trice.
10. \”You know, it’s against the law to burn anything except trash in your yard\”
-Fireman
\”It is trash.\” -Bernadine Harris
What do you wear when you have to burn all of your soon to be ex-husband’s clothes? Obviously, the answer is your coziest cardigan. This sweater is technically not an underdog, because this photo is used whenever anyone talks about Waiting To Exhale. But the cardigan itself is not as iconic as it should be. Mainly because most of us are too distracted by everything else that’s going on in this scene to notice the cardigan. Plus, there is just a much more memorable knit in this movie and that’s the knotted jersey dress that Lela Rochon wears. It definitely deserves the top spot for this movie. But this cardigan is a \”must knit\”. I like this Dokkum Cardigan by Boadicea Binnerts. Who says you can’t be cozy and confident at the same time?
……….
What do you think? Do you agree with my picks? Did I snub any knitted pieces that you were hoping would finally get a moment to shine? There are definitely more of these \”underdog\” sweaters out there so this might need to have a part two at some point. Let me know in the comments which ones I missed. I tackle something new every week. What shows or movies should I do next? Don’t forget to follow along on my Instagram account @bobbleclubhouse for your daily dose of all things knitted and to stay up to date on our upcoming events. Until next time, happy crafting!
bobbleclubhouse
Elderly Millennial, Knitaholic, and creative director of Bobble Club House.
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