Ugly Christmas Sweaters as Anti-Fashion

The habit of wearing ugly sweaters as chic fashion statements mostly lay dormant through the ’90s. Then, in the new millennium, people started throwing ugly sweater parties. The authors of “Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On” claim to have traced the origins of the now widespread ugly sweater party tradition to its roots in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to the book, two men named Chris Boyd and Jordan Birch are responsible for the first-ever ugly Christmas sweater party, which took place at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver in 2002. Speaking with The Rush on Shaw TV, the godfathers of the tradition say they set out to organize “a cheesy, feel-good, festive party, and the sweaters were a main ingredient of that.” Little did they know that their minor tongue-in-cheek event would evolve into such a cultural phenomenon, because you know not wearing an ugly Christmas sweater is the major party foul of the holiday season.