These behind-the-scenes photos prove cardigans were the epitome of cool in the Sixties

Who needs a leather jacket? These stars looked stylish in button-down sweaters.

The Everett Collection

The cardigan may be seen as more comfortable than cool, but we beg to differ. While it’s certainly a cozy piece of clothing, it can also be as cool as any leather jacket, wide Seventies collar or blue suede shoe. 

Don’t believe us? We’ve got the pictures to prove it! In the 1960s, cardigans were all the rage. They were worn by tots, teens, twenty-somethings, moms, dads and grandparents alike.

Take a look at these Sixties stars sporting nifty knitwear and suave sweaters. Did you ever have a cool and comfortable cardigan? All images courtesy of the Everett Collection.

Here's Bob Denver modeling a striped cardigan.
Roger Moore looked as cool as ever in this cardigan while shooting the series 'The Alaskans' before he joined 'Maverick' and eventually became James Bond.
Heeeere's Johnny! Sporting a blue cardigan with his wife, Joanne.
Who said beige is boring? It's good enough for Gene Kelly and Julie Andrews, on the set of her 1965 TV special.
Jackie Gleason swapped out Ralph Kramden's bus driver jacket for this classy green cardigan.
Jim Nabors never played characters considered particularly cool, but he looks stylish in this cardigan with a little Elvis hair curl.
This yellow sweater looks chic and comfortable on Patty Duke.
Singer Vikki Carr wore layers of knit fashion for this photo.
Here's Sidney Poitier lounging in a blue cardigan.
Ok so this picture isn't from the '60s, but we had to include Harry Morgan!
Karen Steele appeared in Bonanza, Perry Mason and many more shows. She also proved just how fashionable a cardigan could be,
Cardigans are for kids, too! Like Marc Copage with his TV mom Diahann Carroll.
Here's 'Big Valley' star Richard Long posing for TV Guide in a classic turtleneck and cardigan combo.
The '60s were a great time for cardigans and corduroy. Just ask crooner Johnny Mathis.
Lastly, here is quite possibly the coolest picture ever taken of someone wearing a cardigan. It's 'Surfside 6' star Troy Donahue.

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72 Comments

L 29 months ago
My mother always drove the point home to wear cardigans because "they never go out of style". Thus, I still wear them to this day.
ETristanBooth 30 months ago
I'm surprised there's no photo of Dick Van Dyke.
LalaLucy 30 months ago
Love the pic of Sidney. He was the epitome of cool. ❤
tootsieg 30 months ago
Very cool. Everyone in the pics looks good wearing what styles they have on. I think a couple of the sweaters are mohair.
TheDavBow3 30 months ago
Great pics! Patty Duke was so cute! A real shame 😔
BigCityNoise TheDavBow3 30 months ago
Not only did I meet Patty Duke Astin I KISSED HER! On the cheek, but I was able to confess my lifelong love for her and she was so nice about it. Yes I was 30+ but she was it for me as a kid.
She was so gracious and generous with her time. 💔
TheDavBow3 BigCityNoise 30 months ago
Wow! That's so cool!!
Moverfan 30 months ago
Sidney Poitier...hello, gorgeous!
Pacificsun 30 months ago
They weren't "behind-the-scenes" (meaning candid) photos. In that day, before social media, almost no photo of a notable celebrity, in the way you're seeing them in this article, is not intended to be shared. The correct reference to the theme then, is a group of celebrities wearing their choice of casual clothing which focuses on cardigans.
Michael Pacificsun 30 months ago
That Johnny Mathis photo looked like one of his album covers.
UTZAAKE 30 months ago
Crew-neck pullover sweaters were the cotton pickin' rage of the age by the start of the 1980s.
bagandwallyfan52 30 months ago
I wonder if Andy Williams and
Dean Martin and Neil Sedaka wore
Cardigans?
Williams and Martin certainly did.
Oh yeah, Andy Williams! The on set of color TV, those colorful cardigans were all the rage.
Michael 30 months ago
Did Fred MacMurray where cardigans? His name popped into jy mind on seeing this post.
bagandwallyfan52 Michael 30 months ago
Fred MacMurray Did wear cardigans on My 3 Sons and
Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver)
And Tony Dow (Wally) and
Frank Bank (Lumpy Rutherford)
Also wore cardigans on Leave It To Beaver.
MrsPhilHarris Michael 30 months ago
Yes he did.
TheDavBow3 Michael 30 months ago
Yeah. That was the after work/weekend attire. Still had the tie on 😋
justjeff 30 months ago
Check out the sweaters my former employer (Steve Alaimo) and his band "The Redcoats" sported in 1959 (at a P.A.L. dance in Miami , Florida)... or would you consider them a type of jacket? By the way - they look like a doo-wop vocal group in this photo, but Steve actually despises doo-wop... not that I would ever let his opinion affect my music collecting!
CaptainDunsel justjeff 30 months ago
Any relation to Marc Alaimo?
justjeff CaptainDunsel 30 months ago
I couldn't say...
Sway 30 months ago
What no Perry Como?
I think Patty Duke is wearing a pullover sweater there.

Love cardigans. Cardigans are still in style.
MrsPhilHarris 30 months ago
I love this story! I have always loved cardigans. My dad wore cardigans. They could be hip without looking old-manish.

Just one thing. Is that Karen Steele? It looks like someone else to me but their name eludes me.
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Yep. That was Dad. I would guess that photo is from the mid 90s.
Dad looks elegantly casual.
EricFuller MrsPhilHarris 30 months ago
Connie Stevens or Joey Heatherton?
MrsPhilHarris EricFuller 30 months ago
Weird you mention Joey Heatherton. I was thinking about her not long ago and wondered what happened to her so I looked her up. Sounds like she had some up issues.
justjeff 30 months ago
I've said it before and I'll say it again... and I don't care *who* disagrees with me... People and clothing used to be classy. Sure, you can nit-pick every human fault of people of those past decades, but a little bit of style and conformity went a long way... and i'm just as guilty of abandoning style for blue jeans and tee shirts as many of us are... but if the world even turned back to such stylings I'd surely rejoin the "Cardigan Set"... Do they even still make Sans-a-Belt slacks? LOL!
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CaptainDunsel justjeff 30 months ago
Well, a lot of us probably agree with you because a lot of us are old f@*ts too! [grin]

I remember when I was a child people dressed up to fly. It was strictly suit and tie for men and tasteful dresses for women. Nowadays I consider myself lucky if my fellow passengers just... dress.
Personally, I always wanted to pull off a "Cary Grant" sense of style. But I got stuck with Lou Costello's body and Freddie The Freeloader's budget. [le sigh]
justjeff CaptainDunsel 30 months ago
VERY funny! LOL!
texasluva lynngdance 29 months ago
Wicked Wednesday Movie-The Fly

The Fly (1958) 1 hr 33 min-Drama--Horror--Sci-Fi

Neat, if hokey, "The Fly" does teach us an important lesson about being careful when performing experiments. The plot of course has Montreal scientist Andre Delambre (Al/David Hedison) discovering how to transport matter at light speed, and then transporting himself with a fly, thereby getting its head and claw---Yuck!

.

Director
Kurt Neumann
Stars
David Hedison--Patricia Owens--Vincent Price
Nice Copy-

https://ia802509.us.archive.org/21/items/vincent-price_202205/The%20Fly%201958.mp4

LoveMETV22 30 months ago
What no mention of the 60's styling's of:


And what tribute would be complete without the donning of the sweater and iconic shoe toss.

LOL!
WordsmithWorks LoveMETV22 30 months ago
The King of the Cardigans. No one wore it cooler.
Pacificsun LoveMETV22 30 months ago
He's so missed, and so needed in this age! What an unpretensious gentleman!
Mr Rogers looked COOL in his
Cardigan and his TV show was
Also cool.
Moverfan bagandwallyfan52 30 months ago
That's what we need on MeTV! Dump Full House, banish Mams's Family (please lose all reels of Mama's Family) and put on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. I'd much rather listen to Henrietta Pussycat and X The Owl than Mama and her man-baby son, Vint--and I just turned 60!
Pacificsun 30 months ago
Fred Rogers, star of the long-running children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, donned a cardigan at the beginning of each episode. The cardigans were made by his mother and closed with a zipper instead of buttons.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardigan_(sweater)


https://www.amazon.com/Womens-Cardigans/b?ie=UTF8&node=1044612
LoveMETV22 Pacificsun 30 months ago
OMG we were thinking the same thing LOL.
Pacificsun LoveMETV22 30 months ago
LOL! I think I just randomly hit this story before you, or you would've responded to the first comment. But I do like these opportunities (as a diversion). Like something am not sure about, giving me the opportunity to look it up, and then learn something. For example, I did not know cardigans have so many style variations!

Do you think we are the "Cliff Clavens" of useless trivia here! LOL!
LoveMETV22 Pacificsun 30 months ago
It was the first thing that came to thought when I read the story, then I saw your comment after. Lol on the Cliff Claven.
Who is Cliff Claven that name
is a mystery to me .
Cliff Claven is a character on " Cheers ", played by John Ratzenberger.
ncadams27 30 months ago
I don’t think the ones that Vicki Carr and Karen Steele are wearing are cardigans. They should have an open front without buttons all the way to the top.
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