Why I am (regrettably) not wearing my Christmas sweaters this year.
Why am I giving up my Christmas sweaters? Because of the ugly Christmas sweater fad. In the past two or three years, the new thing to do was find a cast off "ugly" or "tacky" Christmas sweater and wear it to a party where everyone else was also showing off their "ugly" sweaters, which they likely procured the same way. Meanwhile, those of us who took pride in our sweaters and waited all year to wear them dared not show ourselves in such garments for fear of being either teased or presumed we were going to an Ugly Sweater Party.
Let me explain further. Christmas sweaters became a popular thing back in the middle to late 1990s, and everyone had to have one. Everyone who was anyone had a Christmas sweater or sweatshirt. They weren't cheap either. Those who did not often splurge on such things treasured their sweaters and wore them with pride in the following years, even as they started to go out of fashion. At the end of each season, sweaters were carefully cleaned(sometimes also repaired) and preserved in preparation to be worn next year. I amassed quite a collection myself, since you could find Christmas sweaters in stores through the early 2000s. I think I bought my last one in 2008 or 2009. Soon after that, everything changed.
Someone, somewhere (probably an edgy DIYer or a yuppie) evidently decided that it would be funny to take all the old Christmas sweaters people had hanging around and "ironically" wear them to a party. The idea caught on faster than green bean casserole, and soon everyone was going to ugly sweater parties, and having ugly sweater contests, and going to ugly sweater bar crawls. Soon, manufacturers started producing "ugly Christmas sweaters" just for parties. They were soon followed by ugly sweater sweatshirts (the sweater design having been printed on, so you can have the ugly sweater experience without the high maintenance of yarn, or the itchiness).This year I have even seen ugly sweater t-shirts, I suppose for those who want to have an ugly sweater party in Florida or Hawaii.
Truly, what better way to celebrate the Birth of Christ and Peace on earth with goodwill to all men than by mocking the lower classes while getting drunk at an ugly sweater party? It was, after all, those of us with meager means that treasured our sweaters year after year, and wore memories of Christmases past around our shoulders. It is as if Ebenezer Scrooge took Bob Cratchet's castoff holiday waistcoat and wore it to a "Dress like your Employess and Tenants Party". For truly, Ugly Sweater Parties are yet another way for the rich to mock the middle class and poor.
Last year I tried to wear my sweaters with head held high; but because of the prolific "tacky sweater" movement, I felt a twinge of embarrassment every time I went in public with one. This year I have admitted defeat; no Christmas sweaters will be seen outside my house, or possibly even inside. I won't get rid of them, yet. Maybe one day the ugly sweater phenomenon will go the way of aluminum Christmas trees and I can wear them again. Or perhaps one day they will be museum pieces, Until then, my non-ugly, un-tacky sweaters will remain safe, and not condemned, in the drawer.
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| Two of my more understated sweaters. |
