Thought putting on a jumper was simple? Not any more. From tying a headhole-free ‘schmoo’ around your neck to draping your knit across your shoulder like Dick Whittington, things are getting a bit complicated
When is a jumper not a jumper? When it’s a schmoo: a jumper without a head-hole. This week sees the launch of such a garment by Michael Kors, designed to be wrapped around the neck like a scarf or knotted around the waist like a belt – in short, worn any which way except as a jumper.
It aims to prevent the unsightly bumps caused by wearing an actual jumper in lieu of a belt, but is also an interesting concept when viewed within the context of Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, which posits the idea that the meaning of a word is bound up in how it is used rather than something presupposed.