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Over the last couple of decades, our culture has refined its sense of irony and has formed an obsession with nostalgia. These two themes, in combination, have paved the way for the resurgence of the ugly Christmas sweater. In today’s world, it’s quite possible that you and your grandfather have an overlapping taste in outerwear. But how did it become acceptable to raid your grandfather’s closet and rock his bulky, oversized Christmas sweaters?
Fashion is cyclical. Clothing trends have always come, gone, and reappeared over the course of years. But it’s rare for attire to be considered both outmoded and trendy at the same time. The sweaters we now lovingly embrace as “ugly” peaked in earnest popularity in the 1980s. Very few styles can boast the same cross-generational appeal as Christmas sweaters. For every person who ironically loves an ugly sweater, like Kevin Love, there's someone who appreciates it sincerely.
So how did the ugly Christmas sweater renaissance begin?
When it comes to ugly sweaters, the more outdated and garish the better. So celebrate grandma's festive, handmade, one-size-fits-none creation. Throw on your most absurd Christmas pullover, get hot, get itchy, and take a look at the history of the ugly sweater—because no one wants to be that guy wearing a smart J. Crew fit to the ugly Christmas sweater party.
Origin of “Jingle Bell Sweaters”
Christmas-themed sweaters were first produced on a grand scale in the 1950s, when the Christmas holiday was becoming increasingly commercialized. Initially referred to as “Jingle Bell Sweaters,” the first-gen ugly sweaters saw decades of modest popularity. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the Christmas sweater gained mainstream adoration.
How the Most Hideous Christmas Sweaters Become Fashionable
For clues about where exactly the ugly Christmas sweater revival began, we look to ’80s television. Specifically, we look to the iconic TV sitcom featuring the Huxtables and eponymously named after a comedian who won’t be mentioned in this piece. The family’s patriarch was such an enthusiast of knitted sweaters with ornate designs and clashing colors that his name became synonymous with the fashion. Syndication and the sustained cultural importance of the show likely contributed to the longevity of the ugly sweater as a fashion choice.
Recognizing the Humor in the Sweater
The ugly sweater had a lot of screen time in the holiday classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Every Christmas season since the film’s release in 1989, we’ve seen the Griswold family looking fly in sweaters that are ridiculous by today’s standards and only semi-fashionable for the ’80s. The use of the sweaters in this film is a mainstream example of self-aware ugly Christmas sweater-wearing. In 1989, Chevy Chase’s sweaters walked the line between self-aware irony and sincere ’80s fashion.
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.
The Ugly Sweater as Haute Couture
After gaining traction as, essentially, a large-scale inside joke, the ugly sweater made it’s way up to the world of high fashion. In 2010, Italian designer Riccardo Tisci debuted a series of angora pullovers with Givenchy. As part of its 2011 fall collection, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled its collection of so-ugly-it’s-beautiful sweaters. Over the last few years, the ugly Christmas sweater has become a mainstay of fall and winter runway fashion, and it has become common in retailers like H&M, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s. Just as the “jingle bell sweater” was during its inception in the 1950s. Even the NBA produces self-described “ugly sweaters.”
So, you could pay thousands of dollars for a designer ugly Christmas sweater, you could snag the Shaq-a-Claus sweater that Shaquille O'Neal is selling, you could hit up a thrift shop and get one cheap, or you could just rummage through your grandfather’s old clothes to find the dopest ugly sweater known to man.
What is it about the ugly sweater that we love so much? Is it simply a sarcastic take on holiday excess? Does the goofiness of everyone’s outfits help people let their guard down? All we know for sure is that the ugly sweater is as stylish as it was in its ’80s heyday. So pull out the corniest gift your grandma made for you and don’t be that guy at the holiday party.
Image via Frederick M. Brown / Stringer / Getty Images