My Aran Islands Sweater

What’s your idea of luxury?

For me, it’s not about buying something expensive with a brand name slapped on it and it’s certainly not a piece or clothing or experience that everyone else can have. It’s something hand crafted, limited edition perhaps where time and knowledge has gone into the creation. A fine wine, a hand crafted piece of jewellery, a black pearl facial for example. And yes I’ve had one of those and it’s pretty amazing!

You might be forgiven for overlooking an Aran Islands sweater as a luxury item, until you discover the history, expertise and hours upon hours it takes to make one.

From its origins, the Aran sweater has been intimately linked to clans and their identities. The many combinations of stitches seen on the garment are not incidental, far from it. They can impart vast amounts of information to those who know how to interpret them. Aran sweaters were, and remain, a reflection of the lives of the knitters, and their families. On the Aran islands, sweater patterns were zealously guarded, kept within the same clan throughout generations.

A finished Aran sweater contains approximately 100,000 carefully constructed stitches, and can take the knitter up to sixty days to complete. It can contain any combination of stitches, depending on the particular clan pattern being followed. Many of the stitches used in the Aran Sweater are reflective of Celtic Art, and comparisons have been drawn between the stitches and patterns found at Neolithic burial sites such as Newgrange in Co. Meath.

My long wool tunic came with a certificate of authenticity, care instructions and a booklet with information about the history of the island and the tradition of the Aran jumper.

To me this is pure luxury and I love the opportunity to incorporate some textile history into a modern wardrobe.

What I’m wearing:
Long wool tunic: Aran Sweater Market
Trench coat: Sambag
Boots: Mollini
Clutch:
Jeans: Levi’s
Necklace: Ottoman Treasures
Sunglasses: Gucci, from Vision Direct