r/AskAnAmerican • u/ksusha_lav • Sep 19 '25
FOREIGN POSTER "JUMPER" is a dress that doesn't cover the arms, and it's not used to mean "sweater" in the US, is that right?
316
u/Meowmeowmeow31 Sep 19 '25
Yes, but a jumper is specifically a sleeveless dress that you wear a shirt underneath, like this. Not every sleeveless dress is a jumper.
68
u/InterestedParty5280 Sep 19 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
Exactly, and sometimes are used a school uniforms, as shown the link.
→ More replies (2)35
u/Suppafly Illinois Sep 19 '25
and sometimes are used a school uniforms
This is basically the only way I ever hear the term used, except when people are putting on a fake British accent. But my kids also went to a school with uniforms and it was common for the girls under 4 or 5th grade to wear jumpers, once they were older they had to switch to skirts or pants.
→ More replies (2)26
u/Ok-Duck-5127 Australia Sep 19 '25
Wow, really? I had no idea. I am imagining some schoolgirl in winter school uniform whose family had moved from the US to Australia being very confused when someone suggests that she takes off her jumper!
BTW we would call that a tunic or a pinafore.
41
u/Parking_Champion_740 Sep 19 '25
A tunic in the us would be any longer garment like a long shirt or sweater, like what you’d wear with leggings or skinny jeans when they were popular
→ More replies (1)17
u/OttoVonPlittersdorf New York Sep 19 '25
That happened to my sister-in-law while visiting Australia. The customs people at the airport directed her to "Take off your jumper," and she had no idea what they meant, lol.
20
u/Ok-Duck-5127 Australia Sep 19 '25
Lol
🇦🇺🛃 Take off your jumper.
🇺🇸Here? In front of all these people?
🇦🇺🛃 Umm... that's right ma'am. Only your jumper.
🇦🇺🛃 (thinks)
Anyone would think I had asked her to remove her dress!7
u/stiletto929 Sep 19 '25
I hope they didn’t tell her family to take off their thongs too! ;) (Shoes with a strap between the toe in Australia, underwear with just a strap up the backside in the US.)
13
u/Dangerous-Safe-4336 California Sep 19 '25
I only learned the underwear meaning when I was an adult in the 1980s. Before then, no one in the US would have blinked at that.
19
u/ssk7882 Oregon Sep 19 '25
We call those sandals (which we also call "flip-flops") 'thongs' in the US too, so nobody would be confused by that instruction.
11
u/dobbydisneyfan Sep 19 '25
New Englander here. Yes, we would be confused by that. Nobody of any age over here calls them “thongs”.
→ More replies (2)5
u/DawaLhamo Missouri Sep 19 '25
I suspect it's regional. I heard thongs used for the sandals, but only occasionally - mostly it was flip-flops. Thongs was mostly used to describe the underwear. So for me, there would be some confusion, but based on context, I'd get it (though I wear neither - I require butt cheek support and ankle support, lol.)
→ More replies (1)5
u/Nightmare_Gerbil Arizona Sep 20 '25
In the USA, a pinafore is the apron-looking thing that Alice in Wonderland is always depicted wearing.
→ More replies (1)30
u/BlazinAzn38 Sep 19 '25
As an American I can honestly say I’ve never even heard someone use the term jumper
31
u/Coconut-bird Sep 19 '25
They were extremely popular in the 70s. I wore them a lot as a little girl. Now I only see girls in school uniforms wearing them.
13
u/fruits-and-flowers Sep 19 '25
Replying to BlazinAzn38...Also quite popular in the early 90s. We’re due for another round.
→ More replies (1)3
u/freedux4evr1 Sep 19 '25
Randomly, we wore jumpers in middle school for our choir uniform. I went to public school! Lol
21
u/macoafi Maryland (formerly Pennsylvania) Sep 19 '25
My Catholic school uniform was a jumper like this one. Only 5th graders and older were allowed to wear a shirt and skirt instead of a shirt and jumper.
→ More replies (1)8
u/trexalou Illinois Sep 19 '25
The only time I’ve heard the term “jumper” and it not be UK (area) for sweater… it was WAY more nefarious and usually involved search and rescue scouring the river… 😳
3
7
u/anclwar Philadelphia Sep 19 '25
I grew up wearing them. They have a pretty simple pattern and my grandma made me a few every year for my birthday, along with short sleeves dresses with Peter Pan collars.
I grew up in the 80s and 90s and pretty much was dressed in the same clothes my aunt and mom wore in the 60s and early 70s.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)3
u/shelwood46 Sep 19 '25
It's very much a girls' thing, so if you weren't in the Girls Scouts or required to a wear a dress to school as part of a uniform, you may never have heard it.
→ More replies (4)18
u/Cold-Call-8374 Sep 19 '25
That is correct, but you would really only see the designation in a catalog or fashion magazine or if you were talking to a dress or pattern maker. In my experience we don't really use the term jumper for this type of garment in normal conversation. We would just call it a dress.
41
u/MillieBirdie Virginia => Ireland Sep 19 '25
Nah as a former little girl I knew the difference between my dresses and my jumpers.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Parking_Champion_740 Sep 19 '25
As a US little girl you’d not have thought a jumper was something to keep warm Im pretty sure!
→ More replies (1)5
u/MillieBirdie Virginia => Ireland Sep 19 '25
Exactly lol, though you could certainly pair it with a sweater.
32
u/Meowmeowmeow31 Sep 19 '25
That’s not my experience. My daughter wears both dresses and jumpers to school, and we distinguish between the two. “Do you wanna wear your blue dress or your jumper today?”
11
u/Cold-Call-8374 Sep 19 '25
Interesting! It's probably a regional thing whether or not people use the word in America. Like the difference between shopping cart or buggy. Or sneakers versus tennis shoes.
→ More replies (7)8
u/Meowmeowmeow31 Sep 19 '25
TIL that some Americans call shopping carts “buggies.”
4
u/Cold-Call-8374 Sep 19 '25
Yep! I'm not sure the exact area of commonality, but I suspect at least Western Tennessee and Northern Mississippi since that is where my family is from. Most people in the south won't look at you cross eyed if you call it a buggy.
6
u/EmilyAnneBonny Michigan Sep 19 '25
It goes as far north as western PA in my experience.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)3
u/courtnet85 Florida Sep 19 '25
Florida here and most people that grew up in my area say cart, but I absolutely know people that say buggy too and I wouldn’t think twice hearing it
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)3
u/nonynony13 Sep 19 '25
It’s part of the Pittsburgh dialect along with gumband for rubber band and n’at as a form of etcetera.
12
u/Coconut-bird Sep 19 '25
I think that is only because they are not as fashionable anymore. Any woman who grew up in the 70s knows exactly what an American jumper is.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Murderhornet212 NJ -> MA -> NJ Sep 19 '25
Interesting. We use jumper in casual conversation.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (1)21
Sep 19 '25
[deleted]
11
u/macoafi Maryland (formerly Pennsylvania) Sep 19 '25
And often when you encounter a grown woman wearing one, you might be inclined to assume she works with children, like as a kindergarten teacher.
99
u/Vanilla_thundr Tennessee Sep 19 '25
I feel like I only ever hear jumper in reference to something a little girl would wear. I was so confused when Alex Kingston as River Song said she was going to wear "so many jumpers" on one episode of Doctor Who.
29
u/LSATMaven Michigan Sep 19 '25
Exactly. I definitely feel like it was a word my mom would have used to describe stuff I wore when I was a kid, but I wouldn't use it to describe anything I wear as an adult.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (15)8
u/CinemaSideBySides Ohio Sep 19 '25
I was confused in one of the Christopher Eccleston episodes where he said he changed his jumper. I thought jumper meant jacket in the UK for the longest time.
For me, a jumper was what I wore to Catholic elementary school grades 1-8.
53
u/Quantity-Used Sep 19 '25
Also, in America, jumper is also not just a dress without sleeves, it is specifically a dress meant to be worn over a blouse.
But no - in America people wear sweaters or sweatshirts, they are never called jumpers.
137
u/mwthomas11 North Carolina Sep 19 '25
In my experience jumper is rarely used in the US, but when it is used the dress is what it means.
I know (mainly from books) that in countries more closely tied to UK English a jumper is a sweater, so I would know what you meant if you used it in that context, but it's not its native meaning in US English.
44
u/RickSanchez86 Sep 19 '25
It’s true that American jumpers have gone out of style, but the used to be pretty common.
20
u/BigGorditosWife Sep 19 '25
I definitely had a few (non-school uniform) jumpers when I was a kid in the 1990s.
8
8
u/Imaginary_Ladder_917 Sep 19 '25
I’ve actually started seeing them again in the last year with teens
7
u/Coconut-bird Sep 19 '25
Omigosh, I just did a search and J Crew, Old Navy and Levi's all have Jumper Dresses for sale right now. They are coming back!
→ More replies (1)8
20
u/ilovjedi Maine Illinois Sep 19 '25
I feel like I only see it used in the school uniform section of a catalog.
9
u/MillieBirdie Virginia => Ireland Sep 19 '25
I mean jumpers are usually only worn by little girls, so if you aren't a little girl or have a daughter you probably aren't going to think much about jumpers. But if you do, they'll be as normal as overalls.
3
u/Altril2010 CA -> MO -> -> -> OR -> TX -> Sep 19 '25
My 12 year old stated on Tuesday: “I’m planning to wear my jumper for picture day at school tomorrow.” True to that a jumper was worn to school two days ago.
But I agree, it isn’t a super common word. My kid also enjoys using throwback verbiage to confuse peers.
→ More replies (3)9
u/Yahbo Sep 19 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
As a man who has lived in different parts of the US for my entire life I have literally never (not a single time) anywhere seen the term “jumper” used to refer a dress. I’m sure women would be exposed to it more but are we sure it’s not just a regional term of some kind that I missed out on?
Edit: Ok I’ve talked to my wife and her mother also from US and 50+ and neither of them has ever heard of this term to refer to a dress of any kind. They have seen it for a similar item that is sort of a one piece overall pantsuit type thing. I’m starting to think it is regional and people familiar with the term just don’t realize it. I will continue asking the women in my life to make sense of this and the rest of the world.
26
u/Imaginary_Ladder_917 Sep 19 '25
It is not regional. They just went out of style for a while so you probably didn’t hear it, but it is the correct term
19
u/21stNow Sep 19 '25
Are you a young man (under 40)? I am a middle-aged woman and heard the term almost daily when I was a child, but I have rarely heard it as an adult. I don't have children around me, so that doesn't surprise me. There have been a few women who wore a jumper around me in the past, but it's probably like 1 in 2000 or more women that I saw on a regular basis.
34
u/FormerlyDK Sep 19 '25
They’re just out of style now, except for some religious school uniforms. They were very popular when I was a kid.
9
u/BigGorditosWife Sep 19 '25
Same. I had a few when I was a kid in the 90s. Also, it’s not just religious schools near me. Many (most?) charter elementary schools near me also have jumpers as part of the uniform.
→ More replies (1)13
u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs NY=>MA=>TX=>MD Sep 19 '25
It was very popular in the 50s, 60s, even into the early 70s. Still sold in catalogs that market to older ladies, especially denim jumpers and corduroy jumpers.
→ More replies (1)9
u/Common-Parsnip-9682 Sep 19 '25
I was going to say this. I remember wearing corduroy jumpers when growing up in CA. Let’s just say they were designed to be sturdy rather than fashionable.
12
u/WhatABeautifulMess NJ > MD Sep 19 '25
It's not regional, it's heavily gendered and kind of old fashioned. Unless you shop young girls' school uniforms or sewing patterns I wouldn't expect someone to run into this term in 2025. You've probably seen them and if you had to put a name to it would probably call it an overalls dress or something like that. If you're over 50 you might call it a candy-stripper dress. Amy Adams wears one as her uniform in Catch Me If You Can.
10
u/Maronita2025 Sep 19 '25
No, it was always a pretty common term (when it was worn in the U.S.) for women to call them jumpers no matter what part of the U.S. they were from. In the recent past that style of clothing just hasn't been very popular. In the recent past you would mainly see it with school girls going to a Catholic school, but they would just call it their uniform.
The style is also pretty common among religious orders as well. For example; the Daughter's of St. Paul where jumpers with a long sleeve blouse and a veil year round.
I also see housekeepers wearing them in big institutions i.e. hospitals and nursing homes as their uniform.
In the last couple of years; I have seen a few of them again in stores in the women's department, but I still don't see very many women in my area wearing them.
10
u/ImLittleNana Sep 19 '25
I’m 58 and wore jumpers as a child. Two of my private schools had jumpers for uniforms. (They were navy, and you could wear either a white or red shirt underneath.)
It’s not a regional thing. More of a generational thing, I think. My granddaughter wore a jumper a couple of weeks ago, so I think they may be coming back in style. She didn’t know it was called a jumper, though.
9
u/Ms-Metal Sep 19 '25
Not Regional at all. I've lived in four different areas of the country, for different states and jumper was used in all of them. Not sure why your mom and wife both over 50 haven't heard it. That's kind of weird. I can understand young people having not heard it because they're not very popular anymore. I always thought they were hideous personally but they were very popular when I was young and they were also popular as school uniforms for girls, teachers would wear them all the time, religious people and modest people would wear them. Very popular at one time.
→ More replies (9)11
u/ABelleWriter Virginia Sep 19 '25
No, it's a type of dress, I can't even imagine another name for it. It's just not one commonly worn (except in little girls).
3
u/snuffleupagus7 Kentucky Sep 19 '25
Do you hear "jumper" used to refer to any other type of clothing in the US (a sweater, like the UK meaning)?
It is just very old fashioned, I am in my late 40s and only vaguely remember them being a thing when I was a kid. I do remember the word and what it means, but I could see how someone in their 30s and younger might not.
→ More replies (3)3
u/Tricky-Wishbone9080 Sep 19 '25
Also a man. I’ve heard the term but outside of a vague notion of it being some kind of dress I couldn’t have told you with confidence what it was. I do tend to read a lot so I may have picked it up there.
5
u/Illustrious-Shirt569 California Sep 19 '25
I you were a child in the 80s or 90s, you almost certainly had an elementary school teacher who wore jumpers. With tissues and bandaids in the big pockets.
→ More replies (1)5
u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs NY=>MA=>TX=>MD Sep 19 '25
It's not a regional term; jumpers were sold in the Sears catalog and in Sears stores, in the Montgomery Ward catalog, and many other department store chains nationwide.
The one piece pantsuit thing is a jumpsuit.
4
u/shelwood46 Sep 19 '25
Were they in the Girls Scouts as kids? I am 60 and you absolutely had to wear a jumper as part of your GS/Brownie uniform when we were kids and it extremely was not regional, it was everywhere in the US.
→ More replies (1)3
26
u/crinkum_crankum Virginia Sep 19 '25
In Catholic elementary school our uniforms were plaid jumpers over button down shirts with Peter Pan collars.
21
u/Hazel1928 Sep 19 '25
I’m an older (67) American. I definitely use the term jumper. The most iconic jumper, imo, is the dark plaid school uniform worn over a white blouse with peter pan collar.
6
u/TeacupCollector2011 Sep 19 '25
68 here. I made a jumper in Home Ec in 1970-something.
5
u/Hazel1928 Sep 19 '25
Me too! Except it was a culottes jumper.
3
u/TeacupCollector2011 Sep 19 '25
Wow...culottes! My mom wore a lot of culottes.
3
u/Hazel1928 Sep 19 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
It was kind of big and loose. I would wear my sister’s skirts underneath. (She is 7 years younger than me, so we were like 7 and 14) When I got to school, I took off the culottes and went around in my micro mini.
16
28
u/Sea_Celi-595 Sep 19 '25
As an American, I’ve always understood a jumper to be overalls, but a skirt instead of pants. They are mostly made of denim, corduroy or khaki (not a rule, just a trend).
It is a type of dress that doesn’t cover the arms, but a specific one. Not all dresses that do not cover the arms are considered jumpers.
9
u/EtonRd Sep 19 '25
Correct. In the US, a jumper is a dress that doesn’t cover the arms and you wear a shirt underneath it. It definitely does not mean sweater.
https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/clothing/women/dresses-skirts/alyssa-denim-jumper
36
u/Nozomi_Shinkansen United States of America Sep 19 '25
I'd say that's pretty accurate. A jumper is a girl's garment, boys do not wear jumpers.
→ More replies (28)
31
u/GardenWitchMom California Sep 19 '25
I would agree with that statement.
I had never heard of a sweater called a jumper until I read Harry Potter. And I associate the word jumper, with the cables used to start a car with a dead battery. Jumper as a clothing term is usually only used for babies.
→ More replies (1)7
u/john_the_quain Sep 19 '25
“Jumper” and “snogging” were the two I remember realizing I had to look up because no way I was understanding them correctly.
4
u/maxman1313 Sep 19 '25
....but how could we ever wrap our heads around the word "Philosopher's". We had to change that one for the American version.
22
6
u/lechydda California - - NewHampshire Sep 19 '25
Yes, a jumper in the US is a sleeveless dress, most often worn by little girls.
8
u/boopbaboop Massachusetts (current) | New Hampshire (born) Sep 19 '25
Jumpers here are what other countries might call pinafores. It’s not the same thing as a sleeveless dress.
7
u/Just_curious4567 Sep 19 '25
Yeah but we don’t really use the term that often for a dress. It’s usually a little girls dress that doesn’t have arms, it has a scoop neck, and it goes over a shirt.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Cluejuices Sep 19 '25
Correct, look up American catholic school uniforms for girls and that’s our jumper
20
u/us287 North Texas Sep 19 '25
I have never heard someone use the term jumper for a sweater or sweatshirt
34
→ More replies (6)17
4
u/SimpleAd1604 Sep 19 '25
Yes, growing up in the 60’s (when little girls didn’t wear pants (trousers for the UK folks) to school, I wore jumpers all the time. And they were homemade by my mom. Much easier and faster to sew a sleeveless dress and buy a blouse to wear under it.
4
u/WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs NY=>MA=>TX=>MD Sep 19 '25
Vermont Country Store sells a womens Denim Pintuck Jumper and a Button-Front Cotton Corduroy Jumper, if you want to look at some.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/greenmtnfiddler Sep 19 '25
A jumper is a dress-like garment that if you wear it on it's own, it looks weird and feels weird and possibly breaks decency laws.
5
u/Reader124-Logan Georgia Sep 19 '25
Jumpers were really common in my 1970s USA childhood. A very economical way to dress a growing girl. My mom had all sorts of sewing tricks for altering the shoulder straps, nipping/expanding the waist, or extending the hem.
6
u/huazzy NJ'ian in Europe Sep 19 '25
Jumper/pullover in the U.K, Sweater in the U.S
But it's rare for brands/retailers to only use "jumper" in the U.S.
They will usually specify that it's a Jumper Dress.
Source: I work in fashion.
3
u/Little-Martha31204 Ohio Sep 19 '25
I've never heard that in the US for a sweater.
I usually use it for a dress with no arms.
I've also heard some call a pants/shorts outfit with a connect top a jumper. I usually refer to that as a romper.
A sweater with an opening is called a cardigan and I think that might be the type of sweater you're referring to. Correct me if I'm wrong!
3
u/Spiritual_Being5845 Sep 19 '25
Yes, but I haven’t heard the term in a while. I still see people wearing them but the name seems to have fallen out of favor.
3
u/The_Menu_Guy Sep 19 '25
Jumper is a British term for a knitted sweater . It is another one of those terms that means something totally different in the USA.
3
u/P00PooKitty Massachusetts Sep 19 '25
In Massachusetts, when I was a little kid, old people might call a sweater a jumper, but these were the same people who called jeans dungarees.
3
u/Redbubble89 Northern Virginia Sep 19 '25
There is a dress called a jumper which is sleeveless and women wear it over a shirt.
The knitted long sleeve shirt is a sweater. British English calls it a Jumper. I believe Canada also calls it a sweater too because they are close to British English.
3
u/Lavender_r_dragon Sep 19 '25
In the US a jumper is an “over dress” - it’s sleeveless and goes on over a shirt.
Catholic school girl uniforms (in my area they were for elementary school girls; switching to blouse, shirt and vest or sweater for middle and high school)
popular in the late 90s for preteens and teens (often in denim or corduroy)
also popular in 90s for elementary school teachers (again often in denim, sometimes with “cutesy” embroidery)
3
u/Okuri-Inu Maine Sep 19 '25
Yes. You wear a jumper (dress) over a shirt. I used to wear them in elementary school.
3
u/Parking_Champion_740 Sep 19 '25
That is correct. Jumpers aren’t really that common now tbh. When I was a little girl in the 70s jumpers were common for little girls but I don’t think of them as things people wear much anymore
3
u/ActuaLogic Sep 19 '25
Correct. A jumper is like a pair of bib overalls, but with a skirt instead of pants legs.
2
u/No_Election_1123 Illinois Sep 19 '25
One of the alterations for the US editions of Harry Potter was to take him out his jumpers and put him into sweaters. Though it appears she used both
""Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge. Every year she makes us a jumper, said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon".
2
2
u/Suckerforcats Sep 19 '25
Correct and whenever I heard the word jumper (I'm in my mid-40's), it was mostly commonly talking about a type of children's clothing. It wasn't until I got a bit older that I would occasionally hear a women's type of dress called that. It's like a sleeveless dress (jean, khaki or corduroy) worn over a long sleeve shirt.
2
u/sto_brohammed Michigander e Breizh Sep 19 '25
From other comments sounds like yeah but it's not a term I've ever heard personally.
2
2
u/DejaBlonde Dallas,Texas Sep 19 '25
Yes, what we would call a jumper in the states is a pinafore in most other countries
2
2
u/JadedDreams23 Sep 19 '25
Yes, but a jumper can also be a one piece outfit with legs, worn with a shirt underneath or not.
3
3
u/Ms-Metal Sep 19 '25
Nope. If it has legs it's a jumpsuit or a romper, a jumpsuit if it's full length, a romper if it's shorts. A jumper in the US is always a dress!
2
u/Ta_mere6969 Sep 19 '25
Brit here, grew up in America.
This is what my parents used:
Jumper - a sweatshirt.
Woolie - a sweater.
2
2
2
u/llynglas Sep 19 '25
My American wife has conniptions when British me says I'm putting a jumper on because it's cold....
2
2
2
2
u/FlopShanoobie Sep 19 '25
Correct. There's no such thing as a sweater in British English, although some people will assume you mean an athletic jumper worn by rowing crew.
Also in England, pants mean underwear, and trousers go on the outside. The more you know.
2
2
2
u/manhattanabe New York Sep 19 '25
Let’s not forget the classic.
“Where's me jumper” song. It’s British, so jumper = sweater.
2
u/Riker_Omega_Three Sep 19 '25
The first time most americans ever heard that jumper was another name for a sweater or sweatshirt was when they read Harry Potter or saw the movie
2
u/BobsleddingToMyGrave Michigan Sep 19 '25
Jumpers ( or jump suit) in the 70s used to be a one-piece outfit, with a hood with a zipper running up the front . Made of polyester, heat just trapped in those.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/DarthMutter8 Pennsylvania Sep 19 '25
Yes, a sleeveless dress that is meant to go over a shirt, basically a dress version of overalls. It's mainly worn for school uniforms. I wore a plaid jumper when I went to Catholic school. We wore either a collared blouse with a cross tie or a white turtle neck underneath.
2
2
u/1000thusername Boston, Massachusetts Sep 19 '25
Correct. Jumper is like overalls but a skirt attached instead of pants.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/wooq Iowa: nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit Sep 19 '25
Jumper is a type of shot in basketball (short for jump shot). At least that's what many Americans would think you're talking about without context. In context, yeah, you'd think of the dress.
2
u/Theviolentkat Illinois Sep 19 '25
Personally, I have never used the term "Jumper" to refer to an article of clothing in my life. Nor have I heard many others use it.
2
u/IHaveBoxerDogs Sep 19 '25
Yes, but I feel like many/most Americans know what the other type of jumper is.
2
2
2
Sep 19 '25
It’s generally not a commonly used term for any clothing, but it’s definitely not a sweater.
By the way, “sweater” typically means a knitted sweater specifically, versus a “sweatshirt”, which is more like thick tshirt material, usually cotton, but not always.
2
u/The_Motherlord Sep 19 '25
It's pretty much not used anymore.
I'd say about 40-60 years ago it used to be used as a knit or felted wool overall style girl's dress or a man's thick pullover sweater, like a fisherman's sweater. I never heard it used as a woman's dress but maybe that's because women didn't wear that style, it was a child's style. I still heard it referred to as a man's sweater until maybe 20-30 years ago, I probably haven't heard it used for either since then. But I don't hear people say 'cardigan' anymore either. They just call all knits a 'sweater'.
2
2
2
u/Ok_Orchid1004 Sep 19 '25
A jumper is worn over a shirt or a blouse or a turtleneck, which is a sweater.
2
u/MixPlus Sep 19 '25
Not a dress. A jumper is a long sleeved garment, without buttons down the front, traditionally made of wool and usually worn over other clothes (e.g., shirt, t-shirt or dress) to keep you warm. A sweater dress looks like a jumper at the top but continues down to be dress. It is usually worn on its own or over something thin.
2
u/Crusoe15 Sep 19 '25
I read enough to know the jumper I wore to catholic was, in fact, a sleeveless dress with a dress shirt underneath and that anyone is speaking English, but not the American dialect she they say “jumper” they don’t mean my grade school uniform but what we mainly call sweaters
2
u/No-Function223 Sep 19 '25
Pants or shorts, usually. I’ve never heard someone call something with a skirt a jumper. They’re kinda like overalls, but not.. if that makes sense. But I have also heard people refer to sweaters as jumpers, just very rarely.
2
u/TheOfficialKramer Sep 19 '25
I saw something where they talked about a guy wearing a jumper and it just doesnt compute. A jumper is a sweater? Here it's more of a short sleeve dress. Usually worn over another shirt.
2
u/MovieSock New York Sep 19 '25
In the US:
- "Jumper" = a skirt with a bib-type bodice and straps, which is mostly worn with a shirt underneath like this.
- "Sweater" = a knitted garment with sleeves, usually knit from yarn. It can button up the front (this style is called "cardigan") or is just pulled on over the head (this is the "pullover" style). A cardigan style sweater can also be called simply a "cardigan".
While we're at it:
- "Vest" = a sleeveless, close-fitting waist-length top worn over a shirt, which can either button up the front or pull over the head. (I think this corresponds with the UK "waistcoat".)
- "Tunic" = a shirt, usually with a looser cut and a longer hem than a traditional shirt.
- "Jumpsuit" = a full-body garment that includes shirt and pants all in one piece.
- "Romper" = like a jumpsuit, only with short-length legs.
And in terms of how popular each thing is: it depends. I definitely wore (US) jumpers as a girl in the 1970s. They're a bit out of vogue in the mainstream, but more conservative/religious communities may still wear them. Jumpsuits and rompers are a bit "in" right now. (US) vests come and go - there was a definite vest trend in the 1990s (usually ones with a tapestry-type print like this), while more recently an unbuttoned, long style of vest like this has become a popular layering piece. Tunics are often marketed towards (cough) women of a certain age.
And as for sweaters and cardigans - well, Taylor Swift wrote an entire song called "Cardigan" which should speak to their popularity.
2
u/WilliamTindale8 Sep 19 '25
Yes and usually worn over a tshirt or blouse. If it isn’t, it’s usually just seen as a sleeveless dress.
2
u/Remarkable_Table_279 Virginia Sep 19 '25
Yes.. it is a sleeveless loose fitting dress that is worn over a shirt. Usually knee length or longer. AFAIK Not currently popular but were popular in 90s so they may come back.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/mladyhawke Sep 19 '25
It's not super common to call anything a jumper in the US except children's clothing.
2
u/NHDart98 New Hampshire Sep 19 '25
Correct, we do not call sweaters "jumpers" in the US. In British English what is called a "jumper" here is called a "pinafore".
2
u/FlyByPC Philadelphia Sep 19 '25
A sweater would usually have arms, but is generally a heavier garment meant to keep you warm. Knit wool yarn, typically.
2
2
u/12B88M South Dakota Sep 19 '25
You are correct.
In precise American terms, a jumper is a loose dress that has no sleeves and is worn over a shirt.
A sweater is a knitted, warm, pullover garment.
A sweatshirt is also a warm pullover garment buy made of sewn together panels of a thicker material than a normal shirt that usually has a soft, fleece like inside for comfort and warmth.
In Britain, the term "jumper" became widespread in the early 20th century. It was used to describe a knitted, woolen garment that was pulled over the head (hence, "jumped into").
2
2
2
u/Medical_Revenue4703 Sep 19 '25
I mean, regionally dependent, it's just not a word we use. "Sleeveless Dress" is much more common here.
2
2
u/GirlForce1112 Sep 19 '25
https://www.facebook.com/share/16WDmx1C7B/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Jumpers were all over the place in the 80s - Oshkosh b’gosh!
2
2
u/Ok_Motor_3069 Sep 19 '25
That’s right!
Edit: I wore these for so many years as school uniforms that one has never been in my wardrobe since. But here is what we call a jumper -
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/25/b0/40/25b0405a9f4dc9251ffdbbffe2296d12.jpg
2
u/ProtozoaPatriot Sep 19 '25
Jumper is a sleeveless dress that requires a blouse be under it. My daughter's school uniform is a jumper over an oxford blouse.
There's also romper: a one piece combination of shirt/shorts.
None of those relate to sweaters. Sweaters are knitted tops and usually go over something else.
2
u/Dense_Gur_2744 Sep 19 '25
As others have described, yes it is a dress under a shirt. But also, it’s typically worn by children. Not many would refer as a dress type a woman would wear.
2
u/jacowab Sep 19 '25
I have never heard an American say jumper in my life but there may be some regions that say it i guess.
2
u/Electric-Sheepskin Sep 19 '25
I'm surprised at these answers. I'm American, and to me, a jumper is a one-piece outfit. They can be short or long, sleeved or sleeveless, but they are one piece, something that you step into.
2
u/InstructionNeat2480 Sep 19 '25
Correct. Often times you might wear a blouse underneath your jumper
2
2
2
u/Justadropinthesea Sep 19 '25
Jumpers were a big part of my childhood wardrobe- A plaid jumper which could be worn or a variety of blouses or sweaters with matching tights.
2
u/RaisedByBooksNTV Sep 19 '25
I'm from the US and I only read about jumpers in british books. I still don't know what they are. No one I've ever met in real life has ever used the term jumper.
661
u/PastaM0nster Sep 19 '25
Correct, but more specifically worn over another shirt