UPDATE: Wendy has won the “art sweatshirt,” and will wear it in Seattle:). Thank you all so much for participating. I hadn’t even considered how wonderful it would be to read the quoted lines of poetry, and have your congratulations for Patrick too. My best to every one of you.
In thanks for your support, and your time spent here that might on occasions require something more like tolerance, I am offering one of our regular readers a chance at this “sweatshirt.” Quotation marks because I doubt sweat is the use case, given the provenance, i.e. a collaboration between JW Anderson, and the artist, Patrick Carroll.
Don’t you love the way the asymmetry of the traditional “X” below the neckline?
Details of giveaway:
- You must have commented on a previous post here, with a consistent email address or moniker so I can confirm you’re not, well, taking advantage. And my apologies, but given the current complexities of international trade, this is open only to readers in the USA or the UK, as I will have it sent to you directly from the JWA site.
- Comment below with a line you like from either Blake or Chaucer. You don’t have to actually like it, pretending-in this situation-is allowed.
- Entries will close at 7pm Sunday night Pacific Time, I will use a random number generator to pick a winner, edit this post to include the name of the winner (can be the alias you use for commenting) and email that winner to notify him/her.
- I will ask you in the email if you would like the brown Blake or the blue Chaucer, for your size, and your shipping address.
- That’s it!
Available in Walnut, or Blue, with embroidered lines from William Blake, or Chaucer, it comes in men’s sizes. To illustrate, here’s the Blue, on me, evidently.
I’m wearing an XS, and could wear an XXS, if I wanted a close fit. The sleeves are long.
A close up of embroidery. Thread ends trail. Embroidered grid represents warp and weft. The artist’s name on a label.
The interior. Not a regular sweatshirt, I gotta say. Cotton with some kind of magic knit.
And yes, I know that Jonathan Anderson, also the head designer of Dior, created the as-yet-unseen dress worn by Taylor Swift at her wedding, as well as the groom’s garb. It must be understood that I’m more excited about Patrick Carroll’s participation than the celebrity connection, given that he is my own dear son.
It’s a really cool piece of clothing. Design/fashion/literary history, I mean, it’s our gig, right?
I’ll be back here Sunday night Pacific Time at 7pm to notify you all of the outcome. Have a wonderful weekend!
Perhaps needless to say, however, I receive no compensation for this post or associated sales
33 Responses
Ah, love these! Especially the Chaucer. :-).
Easy choice.
“Joy is my name.”
“He spilled his seed loosely on grassy ground,” (or “spilling his seed loosely?”) but I think that’s Milton.
And “April is the cruelest month.”
And I have enough sweatshirts but I love this collaboration!
Fabulous shirts:
WIlliam Blake: It’s easier to forgive and enemy than a friend
Blue and large
Thank you! SAturday is always better after experiencing your perspective.
I had to memorize the General Prologue to the Tales and recite it to the professor as part of my Chaucer final; it’s still burned into my brain decades later… “ Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licóur Of which vertú engendred is the flour…” Also I love these shirts. Bravo to your son!
Sadly, although my education included a lot of Shakespeare , it did not include Chaucer or Blake, but I did want to add my admiration for your son’s creativity and I’m enjoying other readers’ quotes. These sweat shirts are wonderful and unique. Bravo !
Chaucer, from Canterbury Tales: “What is better than jasper? Wisdom. And what is better than wisdom? Woman. And what is better than a good woman? Nothing.”
Things I love: your hair, the close fitting knitted wrists on the shirt sleeve [which means you can work at the kitchen sink with the sleeves pushed up, and they’ll actually stay up], warp/weft embroidered grid, that shade of blue, crazy thread ends.
Thank you and your son for this gracious offer, alas it’s too hot here year ’round for a sweatshirt. Cheers to your son for gaining the attention of the house of Dior before the “madding crowd” of celebrity seekers.
The lady doth correct herself, for the bettre: “What is bettre than gold? Jaspre. What is bettre than jaspre? Wisedoom. And what is better than wisedoom? Womman. And what is bettre than a good womman? Nothyng.”
I can’t go past “to see the world in a grain of side, and heaven in a flower”
How delightful and wonderful to see your son’s work with a designer who admires and supports artists
Wonderfully generous giveaway—what a treasure! (Only time I might be a teeny bit regretful to fly a different flag
How fun!!! Love this!
I am going with Blake. “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” I went psychological ;).
I can’t stop poring over the embroidery. What exciting work — congratulations to your son!
From Chaucer: “Amor vincit omnia”.
From an Italian who likes Latin and lives in the UK. Congratulations to your son on the fantastic collaboration with Jonathan Anderson!
Such a fun post! “The Tyger” springs into mind every time I see one:
“Tyger, tyger, burning bright, in the forests of the night: what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?”
It was my high-school history teacher, actually, who shared Blake with us, and I loved them both.
Much too hot here for sweatshirts as well, though, sadly… I’ve been in short sleeves at Christmas the past few years in a row. Someone who can wear Patrick’s art at Christmastime should have it. ❤️ The little trailing threads just draw the eye around while meditating on the words…
A wonderful, wonderful weekend to you and your family. And I agree with Margo: Saturdays are always better with you!
Blake: “As a man is so he sees.”
Can’t get away from politics I guess.
The sweatshirts are beautiful. The embroidery reminds me of cross stitch.
I will add the William Blake quote I loved as a teen:
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”
I was fascinated by the slant rhyme, although presumably it rhymed when he wrote it.
How cool! I had to memorize Chaucer’s Prologue in high school. Like Arlene above I still recall it after decades. Beginning as she did with “ Whan that Aprille … it continues:
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye,”
Entertaining that Patrick used a line from this. I always loved the chewy sound of Middle English. Had to copy it here because I recall the sound better than the spelling. And besides autocorrect is murder when typing Middle English. Ha! Would love an art sweatshirt in Seattle. Happy summer to all!
“Chewy” is such a great descriptor of Middle English!
Happy summer!
Wendy, congratulations for winning the Patrick Carroll knit pullover!
This has stuck with me for over 50 years from 6th form English Lit. From Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, such delightful prose.
Whan that aprille with his shoures soote
“When April with its sweet showers / Has pierced the drought of March to the root, / And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid / By the power of which the flower is created“
William Blake:
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise
What a fun contest! And what a very talented son you have! Medium in blue for moi, should I be so lucky.
I’ve been around a while! I love how your son’s art continues to evolve!!!
Blake: “In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”
Tyger, Tyger! Burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry.
Had to memorize the entire poem in high school
William Blake.
Beautiful – a splendid giveaway indeed! In high school I too had to memorize Chaucer’s prologue,, and still have it burned into my memory, through
“And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.”
(Admittedly I checked the spelling.)
Plus I’m delighted to see in the comments some quotes of Blake’s that I hadn’t known before , and the joyful “painted birds” poem is also new to me.
I have a Chaucer quote that fits my psychology background “Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.” Those sweatshirts are amazingly cool. I think I’ve commented before, but either way it’s fun to participate.
Thank you, Lisa, for this. Congratulations to Patrick for his collaboration.
I love the “Laughing Song “ by William Blake. It reflects the joy experienced in nature. Nature speaks to us, “Come live, be merry, and join with me,….” We all need more joy these days. Thanks.
How much fun is this?! I’m so proud of Patrick.
Love me some Blake.
Chaucer? Headache!
Yet blue I must take.
Grey hair for Pete’s sake!
(email is fake ;)
Ah, so sorry I missed this! Too busy enjoying great weather to be on top of email. :)
I would have chosen the heavenly blue Chaucer, as I vividly remember memorizing not just the first stanza but the first hree for my middle school English class, as I loved the sound of Middle English so much.
“But nathelees, whil I have tyme and space,
Er that I ferther in this tale pace,
Me thynketh it acordaunt to resoun
To telle yow al the condicioun
Of ech of hem, so as it semed me,
And whiche they weren and of what degree,
And eek in what array that they were inne;
And at a Knyght than wol I first bigynne.”
Amazingly, I can still recite about 90% of this from memory.
Blake is also marvelous (I also remember memorizing his “To see the world [etc.]”). Yet more, even, than his writings, I adore his artwork….
I’m so glad a fellow Seattleite won this lottery, and I hope I run into Wendy one day when she’s wearing it. (Ask her if she ever walks around Green Lake. :). And I also hope that your extremely talented son continues this apparel idea and designs another with Andrew Marvell’s delicious phrase “A green thought / in a green shade” (from Marvell’s stunning poem “The Garden) — on green sweatshirt, of course. Can’t wait to see which shade of green he chooses… :)
Sending love and waving from Seattle~ Alex.
These are wonderful! Could you offer more insight on sizing? I am a size 12 typically and while I would not want a tight tight fit, for me, I would not want oversized as I think that would overwhelm me. I am thinking Medium based on sizing charts but am skeptical if you are in an XS and could have taken XXS……..
Margaret, yes, the sizing takes a little thought. Here is some thoughts based on correspondence I have had.
These are unisex sizes. So, for example, in UNIQLO I wear their size S tees. At Eileen Fisher, for pants, I am between an XXS and an XS. For this, I now own an XS of the sweatshirt, but I could wear an XXS. Am 5’5″, if that’s useful.
Below I’ve measured the one I own.
Chest (seam to seam at bust): 21 inches
Sleeve (from where it’s set into body to end of cuff): 22 inches
Length (top of center neckband to bottom of center waistband): 23 inches
Waistband: 16 inches
Top of left shoulder seam to top of right shoulder seam: 21 inches
Does that help? It’s possible that I could wear an XXS in this BECAUSE it is a men’s garment, and is therefore natively broader in the shoulders? Let me know if I can do any further research to make this easier. Thanks for asking!
This is very helpful with all this detail. And thank you for reminder than as a men’s/unisex garment there is that extra shoulder width. Crossing my fingers now as I order! Beautiful garments!
I think I actually commented on the last post you had with these sweatshirts and I probably told the story I really want to tell now about doing the prologue of Canterbury Tales in a play that involved puppets. I was so young then. ;) But “And smale fowles maken melodye” is one of my favorite lines ever. Whenever the birds come back in the spring, I instantly hear this line. Anyhow, happy to buy one but wanted to share my enthusiasm for them.
Beautiful shirts!
My favorite quote from Blake’s Paradise Lost: The mind is its own place, and in it self Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.