It occurs each December, earlier than dinner events and cocktail occasions. My husband rummages deep in his dresser, pushing sweaters round like piles of autumn leaves, till he emerges triumphant with the piece of knitwear for which he has been looking out: that legendary merchandise, the ugly Christmas sweater.
Not that that is truly an unsightly Christmas sweater. It’s, the truth is (and in honor of our interfaith union), an unsightly Christmukkah sweater, one knit from notably garish shades of acrylic and that includes Rudolph with a menorah as a substitute of antlers. A menorah that, with the press of a button, lights up. Each time I see it, I can’t assist however roll my eyes and snicker.
Lately the ugly Christmas sweater is a subgenre of knitwear and an artwork kind in itself: transcendently, ridiculously ironic; frosted with tinsel, sparkle, snowmen and different Santa-fied clichés; the reward of a giggle for us all. It’s an expression of style so dangerous it’s nice, and by no means extra mandatory than at a fraught time (within the yr, in historical past) when feelings run excessive.
That’s why the ugly Christmas sweater has survived — and, certainly, flourished — for many years. The “jingle bell sweater” first appeared on retailer cabinets within the Nineteen Fifties, an early harbinger of the commercialized vacation season to return. However, in a sartorial evolution of a really peculiar variety, the sweater rose above the ka-Ching nature of its origins to develop into a gesture of religion.
Although of their first incarnations jingle bell sweaters regarded principally like Nordic-lite, by the Nineteen Eighties these comparatively tasteful snowflakes and reindeer had morphed into high-pop-culture kitsch, partly due to “The Cosby Present,” the place Invoice Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable raised all stakes when it got here to garish knitwear.
His sweaters have been topped solely by these of the Griswold household in 1989’s “Nationwide Lampoon’s Christmas Trip,” which starred not solely Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo however a complete assortment of eye-catching vacation yarns. Colin Firth gave the garment an entire completely different frisson when he grimaced by means of his cartoon reindeer knit as Mark Darcy in “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” and by 2002 the official Ugly Christmas Sweater social gathering was born — the brainchild of two Canadians, in keeping with “The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On.”
Social media gave the development new momentum, and finally led to Jimmy Fallon’s “12 Days of Christmas Sweaters,” to not point out the 53 completely different ugly Christmas sweaters on provide on Amazon, 1000’s of Ugly Christmas sweater types on Etsy in addition to Poshmark (all these ugly Christmas sweaters need to go someplace), and DIY guides by firms reminiscent of Woolmark. There are Ugly Christmas sweater spinoffs reminiscent of coloring books, children’s books, and even gingerbread men. And, after all, office Ugly Christmas Sweater competitions (The New York Occasions has a kind of).
Having judged such a contest, nevertheless, I feel it’s honest to say that, of their potential to brighten the temper of any second; of their sheer expression of human levity and as a reminder that whereas life is severe, clothes may be enjoyable, most ugly Christmas sweaters are really — properly, stunning.
