Is wearing your sweater on your shoulders right-wing?

There was a time when wearing a sweater on your shoulders would have earned you a lot of criticism. Didn’t Frédéric Beigbeder write in the cult 99 francs in 2000: “ The sweater around the neck betrays cowardice, inability to make a decision, fear of drafts, improvidence and spinelessness, exhibitionism of the Shetland (because, obviously, these gentlemen are too stingy to 'buy cashmere). They wear this kind of soft octopus around their neck because they can't be bothered to choose an outfit adapted to the weather. Anyone who has a sweater on their shoulders is cowardly, inelegant, powerless, cowardly. Girls, swear to me to be wary of it like the plague. No to the dictatorship of the sweater on the shoulders ! » Thus the pubard with an unbuttoned shirt cast opprobrium on the fetish outfit of the 1980s, adopted by these gentlemen at the golf course or on their sailboat at Cap Ferret. In short, where it does, it is true, “ good but sometimes a little chilly so it's better to take a little wool…»

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If experts estimate the birth of this practice at the beginning of the 1960s within the American Wasp community, quickly becoming a sign of belonging to a form of elite (relaxed), it ended up being exported to France in the middle of the 1980s in the various French preppy circles. Specific to the west of France (Bordeaux in the lead) and Paris (from the 16th arrondissement to Neuilly-sur-Seine), “the sweater on the shoulders” therefore historically has a chromatic color (in general, pastel: yellow, pink , pale blue…) as much as politics. From Jacques Chirac to Nicolas Sarkozy, from Alain Juppé to Christian Estrosi, there were many, young and old, who played it relaxed and accessible in the summer universities of the RPR, the UMP and then the Republicans. Some will say that they saw the same relaxation displayed at the traditional meeting of the PS of La Rochelle, Lionel Jospin and other Arnaud Montebourg. Likewise, the genre is very popular with successful but “cool” businessmen, such as the late Bernard Tapie and Michel-Édouard Leclerc…

However, the left-wing hipsters who have never stopped reclaiming the paraphernalia of the bourgeoisie (oxford shirts, blazers with gold buttons, moccasins, etc.) have always feared the ideology of this sweater, although it is quite harmless. In 2012, in The world we could read: “ In reality, the follower of this style runs the risk of being violently strangled by a supporter of the Left Front, with a sharp and simultaneous gesture on the two sleeves of his sweater… Concretely, it is therefore necessary to find something else to accommodate climatic variations on the Deauville seafront. It is particularly possible to draw inspiration from a trend of Italian origin consisting, in summer, of simply placing a jacket or vest on your shoulders. »

From Rohmer to “Sex and the City”

But things could change thanks to our dear Gen Z (15-25 year olds), who ignores these considerations of clothing policies and has developed a passion for what she calls the #oldmoney or #quietluxury look. Which translates into an avalanche of photos on social networks of bècebège clothing, vintage advertisements from Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and J. Crew, images of Gordon Gekko in Wall Streetor Kendall Roy inSuccession . The most advanced even refer to characters from Eric Rohmer's films! Note that it is particularly women who inspire our teenagers. Of young Lucie inThe Aviator's Wife(1981) to Lady Diana era Sloane Rangers passing by the stuffy Charlotte York inSex and the City , there is only one step. Crossed by Simon Porte Jacquemus during his summer 2024 fashion show, presented in January at the Maeght Foundation. As a preamble to the event, the designer posted a funny video on Instagram where Kristin Davis, the actress playing Charlotte in the hit series, discovered the show's invitation: “A sweater on the shoulders” in trompe l' eye.

In the online comments, we no longer know who the star is: the Frenchman, the American… or the knitting. “Kristin Davis became Bordeaux » laughs one of the subscribers. “Simon is grabbing the old money market by the collar”, for another. It would be wrong to deprive oneself of it as the videos “how an off-the-shoulder sweater can make any outfit more chic“, or simply “how to tie your sweater on your shoulders» abound on the networks. In the street, while spring is struggling to warm up, more and more of them are wrapping their necks in this way… We have even seen men in their thirties assuming their genetics to the right of the chessboard but also convinced wokists daring the fatal combo: Lacoste polo shirt and collarbone-warming sweater.