January 17, 2007

What You Lookin’ at, Spool?

Ohio Knitting Mills Poor Boys

If you want to destroy your sweater (whoa, whoa, whoa), pull this thread as you walk away.

Then turn your topless attention to French Poor Boys,  breathable, midcentury cotton tops. 

Available in geometric patterns, preppy stripes, and pastels, most sweaters are in pristine condition from the Ohio Knitting Mills, a now-closed factory in the U.S. industrial heartland. Between 1947-1974, while making thousands for department stores, OKM saved a few samples from every run for posterity. Now they’re shipping the never-worn pieces to their store in Brooklyn each week. 

The tops are cut slim, so ladies can rock them (and pop the little collars) with wide-leg trousers  or high-rise jeans.

So despite the knits’ venerable history, the story has really only begun to unravel. 

 
Available at Ohio Knitting Mills, 231 Smith Street, between Butler and Douglass Streets, Carroll Gardens (718-596-7103 or ohioknittingmills.com).