In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Fair Isle sweaters for men and where to buy them.

The term fair isle refers to a highly patterned, knit garment (sweater, vest, hat, mittens or scarf). The reality of the history of Fair Isle clothing is so much more than stranded knitting.

It includes the history of an island, the people who’ve made it home, and how they created a genre of clothing that has been embraced by the world.

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Fair Isle currently boasts a population of 57, although in the past 5,000 years of settlement the population ranged up to 400.

Unlike most of its history when there was little or no movement on or off the island, fully half of the current residents were neither born on the island nor have family roots there, but chose to settle there. 

Most live on the more fertile southern end of the island, instead of the hilly northern moorlands.

The island was bought by George Waterston in 1947 and he started the world renowned Fair Isle Bird Observatory. The island has since been purchased by the National Trust for Scotland. The Observatory continues to host numerous bird species and many summer visitors.

In spite of that, Fair Isle is still Britain’s most isolated inhabited island. It can be reached several times a week by either ferry or 8-seater plane. While fairly temperate, it’s frequently battered by storms that have been responsible for over 100 nearby shipwrecks.

The earliest known wreck was Sigurd the Viking in AD 900. Many people believe that Fair Isle sweater patterns reflect Scandinavian designs. The Spanish Armada wrecked off the coast in 1588.

Some believe that the survivors of the El Gran Griffon influenced the islanders in their use of colors and patterns.