Argyle (pronounced ahr-gahyl)
(1) A
diamond-shaped pattern of two or more colors, used in knitted socks, sweaters
and a design motif for other purposes.
(2) Specifically,
a sock made with this pattern (often in the plural); now increasingly used also
of sweaters.
1790s:
A adapted variant of the surname Argyll, so called because the original design
closely emulated the clan tartan associated with the name. Argyle does exist as a surname & given
name where it is capitalized but this is now sometimes also the practice when
referring (as a noun) to garments (though never as a adjective). The surname Argyle was from the Middle
English erguil & erguile, a variant of the Middle English
orguil & orguile, from the Old French orguel
(pride arrogance), thus the variation of Argill and Argile with Orgill. There is an alternative suggestion of a link to
Arkell (with a voicing of “k” to “g”) but it’s thought either speculative or an
unjustified generalization from what may have been a genealogical cul-de-sac. Nor is there evidence has to support the
notion of it being a habitational name from Argyll, the county of south-west
Scotland although folk etymology may have influenced the modern spelling of the
surname, something not uncommon, even as late as the nineteenth century. Argyle is a noun & adjective; the noun
plural is argyles.
As a
given name, Argyle’s origins are Scottish, meaning “from the land of the Gauls”. When used as a locality name outside the
British Isles, Argyle was usually a borrowing from there although the Canadian municipality
of Argyle was named after Governor-General of Canada, John Campbell (1845-1914),
ninth Duke of Argyll. Argyle socks were
first so described in that form in 1935, the use as a general descriptor for
other garments (mostly sweaters but also shirts, skirts etc) emerged in the
post-war years. It’d long been used with
fabric sold in bolts and other products (blankets, table cloths, mufflers etc). The argyle (diamond-shaped in two or more colors
in fabric) pattern was influenced by the tartan which came to be associated
with the Argyll branch of the Campbell clan of Argyll, Scotland. The place name translates literally as "land
of the Gaels", the first element from the Old Irish airer (country). The surname
Campbell was from the Scottish Gaelic Caimbeul,
the construct being cam (crooked) + beul (mouth) and it’s often compared
with Cameron, the construct being the Scottish Gaelic cam + sròn (nose). Etymologists have concluded crooked in this
context was a literal rather than a figurative reference.
Despite
the perception of many (encouraged by the depictions in popular culture),
tartan in the sense of specific color & pattern combinations attached to
specific clans is something of recent origin.
Tartan (breacan (pɾʲɛxkən) in Scots Gaelic) is
a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in
multiple colours. The word plaid is now
often used interchangeably with tartan (particularly in North America and when
not associated with anything Scottish (especially kilts)), but technically (and
always in Scotland), a plaid is a large piece of tartan cloth, worn as a type
of kilt or large shawl although it’s also used to describe a blanket. During the disputes between England and
Scotland, the wearing of tartan became a political expression and the Dress Act (1746) was part of the
campaign to suppress the warrior clans north of the border; it banned tartan
and other aspects of Gaelic culture. The law was repealed in 1782 and tartan
was soon adopted as both the symbolic national dress of Scotland and in imagery
more generally.
Although there’s
now an industry devoted to the tartans of the clans, the specific association
of patterns with clans and families began only in the mid-nineteenth
century. This history was both
technological and economic deterministic.
Unlike some fabrics, tartans were produced by local weavers for local
sale, using only the natural dyes available in that geographical area and
patterns were just designs chosen by the buyer.
It was only with a broader availability of synthetic dyes that many
patterns were created these began (somewhat artificially) to become associated
with Scottish clans, families, or institutions wishing to emphasize their
Scottish heritage. The heritage was
usually real but not often specific to a particular tartan, the mid-nineteenth
century interest in the fabrics a kind of manufactured nostalgia.
Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert (b 1982)) in Mean Girls (2004) liked the diamond look, wearing two different argyle sweaters and one skirt with the pattern.
One aspect of the fashions of Mean Girls which did attract comment was that the Plastics, despite having many self-imposed rules on matters sartorial, apparently placed no restrictions on repeating a outfit within a short time although the argyle sweater was the only piece of note worn by the protagonists which made a second appearance.
2022 Mercedes-Maybach 600 Pullman (left), after-market seat covers (centre) and 2005 Bentley Arnage T Mulliner (right).
Early in the twenty-first century, high-end car manufacturers embraced quilted leather with great enthusiasm and the trend, although criticized by some, shows little sign of fading. Some have, with variable results, embraced two-tone color schemes but not in the traditional argyle style although third-party manufacturers of seat-covers have offered a few. Perhaps fortunately, this seems not to have inspired the majors.
1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing (W198) trimmed in blue-grey plaid.
Buyers of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing (W198 1954-1957) had the choice of seats covered in leather or plaid cloth (in the US in 1956 the hide was listed as a US$165 option). In the years since, many Gullwings originally fitted with plaid upholstery were re-trimmed in leather during refurbishment or restoration, partly because the leather was thought to have more of a allure but also because for decades fabrics exactly matching what was available in the 1950s had become unobtainable ("unobtainium" thus the preferred industry term). However, in 2018, in what was said to be a response to demand, Daimler announced bolts replicating exactly the original three designs (blue-gray, red-green & green-beige) would again be available as a factory part-number and, manufactured to the 1955 specification using an odor-neutral wool yarn woven into a four-ply, double weave twill, it’s claimed to be a “very robust material”. In the era, the blue-gray fabric was the most popular, fitted to 80% of 300SLs not trimmed in leather while the red-green and green-beige combinations were requested respectively only by 14 & 6% of buyers. The price (US$229 per yard) is indicative of the product’s niche market but for those restoring a 300 SL to its original appearance, it's a bargain.
The part-numbers: Blue-Grey: A 000 983 44 86 / 5000, Red-Green: A 000 983 44 86 / 3000 & Green-Beige: A 000 983 44 86 / 6000.
Triangles (and the diamond shapes they could combine to create) were one of the notable motifs of the art deco era. From the start, Vogue was of course about frocks, shoes and such but its influence extended over the years to fields as diverse as interior decorating and industrial design. The work of Georges Lepape (1887-1971) has long been strangely neglected in the history of art deco but he was a fine practitioner whose reputation probably suffered because his compositions have always been regarded as derivative or imitative which seems unfair given there are many who are more highly regarded despite being hardly original. His cover art for Vogue’s edition of 1 January 1925 juxtaposed one of French artist Sonia Delaunay’s (1885–1979) "simultaneous" pattern dresses and a Voisin roadster decorated with an art deco motif.
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