Why do posh people wear pullovers casually draped over their shoulders? Jane, by email
Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.
Readers reply
Because other posh people do. Billy Wriggle
Because it’s bad form to wear a hat saying “I went to private school”. StupidSexyFlanders
They do it on the valet’s day off. By the time they have their trousers on they’re too exhausted to tackle anything complicated like a sweater. Redorgreen
Because when you’re rowing across the boating pond there is nowhere else to put it when you get hot and bothered. So it became a practical solution and a marker of wealth. This is a fact I just invented. sherpa_10
Because Nanny told you it was common to tie it round your middle. (Full disclosure: I was told not to do this as well, but in my case because the jumpers had been knitted by grandma or a great-aunt and I was not to stretch them out of shape.) BettyStovesEyes
Emulating the French. It’s a very Parisian thing to do with a light sweater in a climate that only needs it late at night on the way home from la boîte. nickseattle
I am Italian; I moved to Surrey from Turin in 2001. In my experience, a pullover on the shoulders was not in any way “posh“ in Italy. It was an alternative to tying the pullover around the waist. Both were choices made when one thought it unnecessary to keep wearing the pullover because it was too warm. Why are both choices inexplicable to Brits? Because they would rather leave home without the pullover and feel cold for a while, rather than feeling warm and comfortable at the beginning and then have to carry the pullover when they warm up.
This could also be a nice lede into the subject of the popularity of the concept of hygge in Britain, but not in Italy. In Italian, the word for “coziness, contentment and wellbeing, often associated with enjoying simple pleasures and spending time with loved ones” is … life. Claudio Piombetti
I think this custom has its roots in cricket, where players wore cricket jumpers but had to take them off when they batted. Cricket umpires often wear jumpers tied round their waist. Chad
As I see it, it has nothing to do with being posh. It is just a practical way of carrying an extra item of clothing, in case it gets colder later. I have done it since I was a teenager, growing up in Belgium. It leaves your hands free to get on with shopping, eating etc. So much easier than carrying it over your arm. JB
I find it goes particularly well with a matching knotted handkerchief on my head. JournalisticLicence
I’m not sure that it’s just posh people who do this. But I’m sure it’s posh people who wear their collars standing up. Why do they do that? oldyfoldy
Why is tying it round your waist normal, but tying it round your neck not? Who made that rule up and how is one posh and the other not? frenegonde
I am solid working class and have always worn my “jumper” around my shoulders when too hot. I never appreciated this was a posh trait. I shall immediately adopt the stated usual working-class style, around the waist. I know my place! Jodalo
I wouldn’t say it’s a posh thing. It’s about not looking like a six-year-old with your jumper tied round your waist. Crawford_Montazano
I used to work in an organisation staffed by very posh people. Most of them looked as if they’d just climbed out of a skip. boredoldbat
It’s so their neck doesn’t itch when they wrap their cashmere jumpers round their shoulders. virtualearthmanIT
If they get too warm wearing a jumper, they simply pop it over their shoulders. If you tie it at the waist, it can slip off and also stretches the arms too much. This isn’t difficult to understand. DownsideUp
You miss the point that your explanation does not pander to classist prejudice. If I get too warm, I also put my jumper over my shoulders – and I’m not half as posh as my butler. seedysolipsist
All I have to say is that I can viscerally feel Jeeves’ eyebrow, with regards to this discussion, elevating at least an eight of an inch.
“There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself: ‘Do trousers matter?’”
“The mood will pass, sir.”
(The Code of the Woosters)
MountainAspect
As a Canadian, I find the Brits’ obsession with the class system archaic. ShootthePuck
Unfortunately, it is a real thing, which locks most of us out of the good jobs, land ownership and the positions of influence and power. And your head of state is at the top of it! DailyPotterer
I’m posh, and I wear a badger skin draped over mine. The signal is to ensure the badger’s head is perched on the right shoulder, never the left; only an arriviste would do that. jaundicedoutlook1
First time anyone ever called me posh. Brian Hirst
