How Billy Crystal's When Harry Met Sally cable knit became a Gen Z phenomenon: TikTokers desperately recreate actor's 'perfect' jumper from the 1989 movie (after actor reveals mistake he made with the original!)
- TikTokers have branded the cream cable knit jumper a 'winter essential'
- Read More: Heartbreaking reason why Pamela Anderson goes makeup-free
When writing When Harry Met Sally back in the late 1980s, Nora Ephron tried to squeeze as many life lessons into her screenplay as possible.
Notably, if you have an affair with a married man, he is unlikely to ever leave his wife.
Alternatively, altering a menu beyond recognition is a sure-fire way to scare a man off.
But while the late writer left it open whether a man and woman can ever truly be friends, one element of the film has had a lasting impact on fans - and it probably isn't something the crew predicted.
Over the past few years, Gen Z viewers have been raving about the cream cable-knit jumper Billy Crystal wears in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene.
Last month, TikTok user Aoife O'Farrell - who boasts 200,000 followers - posted a video of her modelling a similar knit, which she branded a wardrobe 'essential'.
The fashion content creator captioned the post: 'Winter essentials: a When Harry Met Sally knit jumper.'
Days later, musician Dominick Fulco also shared a video of him recreating the famous scene, which is one of the unlikeliest to go down in fashion history.
TikTok user Aoife O'Farrell - who boasts 200,000 followers - posted a video of her modelling a similar knit, which she branded a wardrobe 'essential'
Billy Crystal (pictured) famously wore the cream cable knit in the scene where Harry is decorating his new apartment with Sally - following his divorce from Helen
In the video, Dominick is wearing a near-identical jumper, blue jeans and trainers - as he joked: 'It's that time of year...'
Sharing a still from the film, the social media star then went on to caption the clip: 'Grab your chunky knit and tennis shoes.'
And the obsession with Billy Crystal's jumper is certainly not a new phenomenon.
In November 2022, TikToker Krista Lavrusik said she 'could not take her eyes off' Billy Crystal's jumper when rewatching the hit 1989 film.
She said: 'His outfits were slaying [...] a chunky, oversized sweater. It doesn't get any better.'
Advising her followers on how they could get the look, Krista recommended looking at vintage brands from the 90s and going up a size or two.
After pairing it with some jeans and trainers, Krista said: 'It's the perfect winter outfit. Literally perfection.'
Earlier this year, Billy Crystal spoke about his confusion regarding the jumper's sudden rise in popularity - and what happened to it after filming.
Appearing on The Today Show to promote his new Apple TV+ horror series Before, the veteran actor said in October: 'The sweater, you know, it became important to people and I can't find it.
In November 2024, Dominick Fulco (pictured) also shared a video of him recreating the famous scene, which is one of the unlikeliest to go down in fashion history
In 2022, Billy Crystal shared two images - a recent snap of him wearing a white cable knit sweater, blue jeans and white sneakers
'I realised about eight years ago, I made a big contribution to the theatre department at UCLA and it was all of these sweaters and clothes.
'And I think it was in the pile. I think it's at UCLA. UCLA, if you're watching - please check to see if there's this beautiful, big, iconic sweater [there].'
Billy famously wore the cream cable knit in the scene where Harry is decorating his new apartment with Sally - following his divorce from Helen.
Last year, Billy posted a photo of himself recreating the outfit to mark his 75t birthday.
'Thank you all..' Billy said in an X post, which received over 9K retweets and over 104K likes.
The post also received over 1,800 replies, including one from Merriam-Webster dictionary's Twitter.
'icon | noun | a person or thing widely admired especially for having great influence or significance in a particular sweater,' the reply read.
Author Margot Wood shared a snap of her cosplaying as Crystal from another cable knit sweater moment from When Harry Met Sally, where Crystal's Harry Burns is reading Stephen King's 1987 novel Misery.
Crystal quote-retweeted the post, adding, 'Love this!' while also responding to a post from comedian Rick Overton, who wished Crystal, 'HAPPY 3/4th's BILLY!!'
'Hi Rick.. we go back a long time,' Crystal said in his quote-retweet, while actor-filmmaker Ben Stiller also replied with, 'Lots of love and respect.'
