Guernsey (clothing)

A guernsey, or gansey, is a seaman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name, sometimes known as a knit-frock in Cornwall, especially Polperro.

[6] The term can also refer to a similarly shaped garment made of woven cloth, also called a Guernsey shirt or smock.

[9] Twenty-four principal patterns have been identified in Cornwall alone, each one again drawing inspiration from ropes, chains, waves, nets and sand-prints.

[5] Worn as a source of pride and often knitted by prospective wives "to show the industrious nature of the woman he was about to marry", the "finer" guernsey was more elaborately patterned than its working cousin.

In January 2025 NHK(Japan's national TV network) came to the Guernsey to make a documentary about the islands famous knitwear.

[13] The translation for the word "jumper" or "sweater" in the Goidelic languages, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx, are "geansaí",[14] "geansaidh"[15] and "gansee"[16] respectively, all borrowings from the English guernsey/gansey.