Ah, the ugly Christmas sweater! For many, it’s an artifact of school dances and family gatherings gone by. You can spot them packed away in closely guarded wardrobes at holiday time or proudly displayed on closet doors for years to come. Whether you love them or hate them, we’ve all got one inspiring us with its gaudy grandeur when Christmastime rolls around each year.
The first “ugly” sweaters
The first Christmas sweaters, Ugly Christmas Sweaters, were released in the 1950s. It was when Christmas was becoming more commercialized. As a result, early versions of these sweaters were less flashy than today’s and were not very popular with people.
People only started wanting to buy sweaters in the 1980s. It happened because movies and TV shows made sweaters look like they were associated with having a good time. Before this, sweaters were not seen as fashionable, but they made people happy. So people started wearing them to work and during Christmas.
The Cosby Show was a comedy series that aired from 1984 to 1992. The main character, Cliff Huxtable, wore sweaters with patterns that were unusual for the time. His sweaters were only surpassed by those of the Griswold family in the 1989 film Christmas Vacation.
People stopped liking sweaters in the 1990s and 2000s. They still appeared in movies sometimes, but people didn’t think they were cool anymore. People started calling them “ugly” around this time.
Parties and reinventing the sweater
It was in the early 2000s that people started to embrace these sweaters again. In 2002, a group of friends in Vancouver created the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. It was meant to be a fun way to celebrate the holiday season, and it quickly caught on, becoming an annual tradition for many in ugly sweaters.
The party also inspired a rebirth in sweater design. Companies started coming out with sweaters featuring new and creative designs. These sweaters were often brightly colored and featured holiday characters, slogans, or graphics. People loved these sweaters for their absurdity and embraced them as part of the holiday spirit.
Today, the ugly Christmas sweater remains a popular choice for holiday parties and events. People worldwide have embraced them as a way to express their sense of humor and individuality while celebrating the holidays. Whether you choose an outlandish design or an understated classic, one thing is sure – it will undoubtedly make you stand out in a crowd!
