When the band The Neighborhood released their song “Sweater Weather”, teens everywhere swooned. The moment temperatures dip below 70 degrees, sweater weather commences.
The same is said for ugly Christmas sweaters, this time, in relation to autumn ending and winter beginning. The season to bear embarrassing embroidery is marked by the Friday after Thanksgiving and the days leading up to the holidays.
Not only are these moments celebrated with [virgin] eggnog stained lips and flushed, red cheeks, but people also trade traditional knitwear for gaudy, yet, playful Christmas (and Hanukkah) garments.
High school and college students may walk into Urban Outfitters or a local thrift store and stumble upon this “fashion piece” alongside ripped jeans and popular records and graphic t-shirts that read “I’m with stupid”.
Likewise, this style reaches older generations of the North Shore. In fact, those nearing their late 70s may even outfit an ugly sweater mindless of the trend factor. Wearing what is unseeming, vintage, and quirky is the popular choice for youth and an easy option for elders.
Senior Michelle Castino was spotted wearing a festive sweater ornamented with multiple polar bears on the first day of December. “Every year since freshman year I do a countdown to Christmas by wearing an ugly sweater every school day of December until the 25th,” Castino explained. She also said that her mom has a huge collection of them so she never has to repeat.
Winter fashions don’t stop there. While attending my brother’s hockey game last week, a Winnetka mom adorned an ugly x-mas sweater and accessorized with a string of colorful lights around her neck as well. Has this trend gone too far and where does one acquire such unconventional ideas? Pinterest, obviously.
Also, is this trend cool or weird?
Will you automatically be marked “hipster” or “dorky” if you dress yourself in pants with Hanukkah menorahs scattered across them in place of the preppy, pink wales your blue khakis used to ornament?
Wearing ugly sweaters is similar to the bucket hat boom of 2014. What started as traditional fishermen gear and made popular by LL Cool J in the 80s, has now revolutionized itself as the new baseball cap adorned by boys and girls ages 14 and up. What was peculiar is now common.
Junior Jake Tennant said he wears Christmas sweaters ironically: “They’re ugly but funny at the same time…a lot of people get a good kick out of them too.”
Tennant also explained that he has about five sweaters, one even clad in Christmas trees on one side and a Hanukkah menorah on the other.
So if you want to wear something with panache, bring on all the bells and whistles. No, for real. The more bells your sweater is embellished with (pun intended), the better. Wear it with confidence too, because if you’re going to pull off a jumper that is animated with singing snowmen, your attitude better match.
In short, fashion truly does say a lot about you. By outfitting yourself in a silly sweater or bodacious bucket hat, you’re silently telling everyone “I’m the fun one!”