I would like to know where the name for the clothing item named
"Cardigan" originates. I would like to know if it is a brand name or a
descriptive noun. Could the use of the word be compared to the way we
refer to most Vacuum Cleaners as "Hoovers" or portable tape playerS as
"Walkman"

jamespuckey --

"Cardigan" is a descriptive noun, not a brand name.  

The best concise explanation I have found of what the word describes
and how it was named is from the website of a British seller of
knitted woolens:

"James Thomas Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868) created
the Cardigan. The 7th Earl was a famous General who led the Charge of
the Light Brigade against the Russians at the Battle of Balaclava in
the Crimean War (1854).

"A Cardigan is like a knitted jacket, and is open down the middle at
the front so the wearer can slip his/her arms straight into the
sleeves. Cardigans are ideal for folk who cannot put garments on over
their heads. The buttons are sewn on the left hand side for women and
the right hand side for men (with the button holes located on the
border or edge of the opposite front panel). A Cardigan may have
pockets on both the left and right front sections."

Woolovers: Word Origins
http://www.woolovers.com/shop/origins_of_words.asp


Additional Information:

Here is a link to more information about the Earl of Cardigan:
Victorian Web: James Thomas Brudenell, seventh Earl of Cardigan 1797-1868 
http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/cardigan.html


Search Strategy:

I began with this generalized Google search, with which I found the
useful site linked above:

cardigan origin
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=cardigan+origin


I then used other more focused searches to confirm that the
information was correct and complete (it was).  This is an example
(note that I eliminated all sites with "corgi" because of large number
of online references to Cardigan Welsh Corgis):

cardigan "named for" -corgi
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=cardigan+%22named+for%22+%2Dcorgi


I am confident that this is the information you are seeking, and I was
happy to be able to provide it to you promptly.  If anything is
unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer


markj-ga

Thanks very much. Very quick reply considering I only paid $2.50. I
will give a $1 tip. thanks again. it settled an arguement in work (not
in my favour unfortunately)

jamespuckey --

Thanks for the kind words, the five stars and the tip.

markj-ga