LL Bean Norwegian Sweaters

On a 75° afternoon this weekend I was perusing the sweater rack at my local Goodwill and stumbled across two LL Bean Norwegian Sweaters from the 1980's. I first spotted the classic LL Bean Norwegian Sweater in navy and white, made famous during the 1980's as preppy staple and immortalized in the Official Preppy Hand Book. The sweater was next to a Champion Waterville High crew sweatshirt. I grabbed it like a fat kid taking candy from a "Take One" bowl on Halloween.

These sweaters were made in Norway with a blend of 80% Wool and 20% Rayon, a synthetic material usually produced from cellulose derived from wood.

For decades this classic weave identified college students with the LL Bean brand. However, LL Bean discontinued the sweater in the late 90's. Today these sweaters are delegated to eBay, vintage stores and flea markets in Williamsburg for around $40 a pop. Not to brag, but these were just $9 a piece.

Where I come from, Goodwills and other thrift stores are as picked over for vintage clothes as thoroughly as garbage heaps in Bangladesh are for food scraps. Central Maine is hundreds of miles away from savvy vintage shoppers and has no shortage of quality clothes.

Farther down the rack, the thick sleeve of a wool sweater stood out from the cheap fleece and cotton weaves and much to my surprise I pulled out another, less known LL Bean Norwegian sweater.

The Goodwills in Maine put X's on LL Bean labels to avoid potential abuses of Bean's rock solid customer service. I love these buttons, very Sun Valley Idaho circa 1965.

The Classic Norwegian sweater is already spoken for by a friend and loyal blog reader. I plan to wear the other for decades to come. I hope that someday LL Bean resurrects these once great sweaters. Without a doubt, LL Bean fans old and new would buy them. If this resonates with you, leave a comment and I will forward it along to my friends at LL Bean.