It’s our favorite time of year again, the holiday season after our Thanksgiving food comas have subsided but before the New Year is upon us. No I’m not talking about Christmas – I’m speaking of a holiday far newer, and some would argue, more fun – National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day. That’s right, December 12th is an official holiday geared around celebrating the tackiest, gaudiest, and most visually offensive Christmas sweaters we could muster. Don’t laugh and dismiss it just yet – the trend of donning hideous Christmas sweaters is actually a big business, with myriad websites selling them at a pace that would make Black Friday retailers jealous.
Build-it-yourself Christmas sweater kits, sweaters with sports logos, LED lights, naughty sayings and other ridiculous knitted creations grow exponentially every year, closing in on $100 million in industry profit soon. Even big retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Nordstrom, and Sky Mall have cashed in on the trend with their own ugly sweater line, and consumers threaten to overwhelm eBay, Amazon, and PayPal with their orders. Even Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal have written recent editorials on the anti-fashion trend, lauding the good business sense of the companies who sell them.
But this isn’t your grandmother’s ugly Christmas sweater – it’s a far more recent holiday. The day actually started officially in 2011 and since has partnered with the Save the Children organization, rolling out their “Make the World Better with a Sweater” campaign to raise funds for a great cause.
The fun part is that people are snapping photos of their fashion massacres and sharing them via social media. So without further adieu, here are some of our favorites for ugly Christmas sweaters and creepy Christmas fashions.
Please send us a photo of you wearing an ugly Christmas sweater this year, or email us if you’d like a list of where to purchase them! And remember – it’s all for a good cause, so thanks for donating to Save The Children!
-Norm Schriever
Blue Water Credit staff writer