Liz Says: Sweater Pullovers are wonderful on cold winter days or even when there is a chill in the air what a great feeling to slip into one of these pullovers. Dressing To Impress has free shipping. and here's history. In the 1890s it was adopted by athletes in the United States and called a sweater. The first sweaters were heavy, dark blue pullovers, worn before and after athletic contests to protect against cold. By the 1920s designers such as Jeanne Lanvin and Gabrielle (“Coco”) Chanel introduced sweaters into their collections.