Christmas Sweaters: Decorate Yourself for the Holidays
100No, that's not a typo. I do not mean do-it-yourself decorating. I mean decorating your body, your person, your entire festive self head to mistletoe in holiday gear. Specifically, the phenomenom of Christmas sweaters and vests, and why otherwise sensibly attired people bedeck themselves in clothing that screams, "Look at me, look at me, I'm a living Christmas tree!"
All is Shiny and Bright
You've seen the people I'm talking about. Heck, you may even be one of them. During the month of December they (or you) literally wear their (or your) holiday spirit on their (or your) sleeve by sporting holiday themed clothing -- in public, no less. Really gaudy, cutesy and/or glittery holiday-themed clothing. Embroidered sweaters. Knitted vests. Red, green, silver and gold; reindeer and Santas, candy canes and snowflakes; colors and patterns that shout, "I have holiday spirit ... but I have no taste!!"
A little glitter goes a long way
There's no way to make this sound anything but elitist, so I'll just put it out there and take my lumps of coal.
Why is it that the people who favor Christmas sweaters are inevitably ones who should not be calling extra attention to their bodies? Or maybe that's the whole point. If you've already got a shape like a figgy pudding, perhaps you believe that covering it with a size 2x red sweater takes the focus off the lumps and bumps and puts it on the baubles and appliques. I dunno, maybe it works.
When you subsume yourself into such a strong fashion statement, you attract attention. Like Christmas decorations that complement your home's architecture, you want people to look at you and say, "That looks really cool," not, "That looks like Clark Griswold's house. Turn it off before it blows a circuit."
Dressed for the Holidays
Lest you confuse me with that old Bah Humbug guy from the Dickens story, I want to be clear. I love Christmas. I enjoy decorating my house and putting a big tree in the living room. I go to see the Nutcracker every year and get a huge kick out of seeing all the little girls in their velvet and tafetta dresses. In other words, I'm all for decorating. I'm all for dressing festively.
But I am not a huge fan of wildly patterened theme clothing. Whatever vague interest I might once have felt has definitely been squelched by Stacey and Clinton of the show "What Not to Wear. " Unlike them, I fall short of deriding people with embroidered pineapples or martini glasses on their pants. However, I have come to agree there are subtler and quite lovely ways to attire oneself for the season.
For example, a nice tie, pin or pair of earrings is ample to give the impression of Christmas. Add a red or green scarf and you've made your point without losing your individuality. Let others follow mindlessly like sheep (or maybe more like reindeer) in their over-the-top, festooned knitwear. You'll make much more of a statement if you keep it simple and elegant.
And whatever you do, if you absolutely must choose the sweater, do not accessorize too. Pick one:. The 12-days-of-Christmas embroidered sweater or the Santa's sleigh pin or the snowflake light-up earrings.
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The Christmas Sweater
Price: $10.83
List Price: $19.99 |
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The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book
Price: $8.75
List Price: $17.99 |
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The Christmas Sweater
Price: $7.71
List Price: $29.99 |
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Christmas Tree Pins: O Christmas Tree (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
Price: $21.86
List Price: $29.95 |
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Lotsa Lites Christmas Holiday Flashing Light Bulbs Earrings
Price: $3.49
List Price: $12.99 |
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Christmas Earrings Swirl Ornament (silver)
Price: $12.00
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Christmas Dangle Earrings! 12 Holiday Styles Available
Price: $1.99
List Price: $4.99 |
Backlash
Apparently I am far from alone in my thinking on this. Sure enough, my research encountered several websites devoted exclusively to "Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties." There appears to be a growing underground of Americans -- across the country -- who gather during the Christmas season to mock the Christmas Sweater tradition. Some of UCS parties are even fundraisers for charitable causes!
Something tells me the revelers hosting or attending these parties would never be caught in public dressed that way. They see the Christmas sweater trend as kitcsch, not "kute."
Hubber wsp2469 suggested this festive song!
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Comments
Hi Lori, I really hope I don't offend people with this one. Some pretty normal people like Christmas sweaters and sweatshirts. I just happened to notice yesterday that an entire side of church was filled with women waaaayyy overkill with the holiday clothes and jewelry. And I went to a play yesterday and there was a busload of little old ladies. They, too, were all decked out in their ho ho holiday finest. Got me wondering -- am I in the minority here?
Thanks for commenting and agreeing. Hope all's well with you! Happy holidays. MM
Mighty Mom, I have seen plenty of people taking you up on your advice. Great hub love the sweaters just not on me, lol!! Thanks!!
Thanks, Triplet Mom. I have pictures of me 6 months pregnant wearing a green silk dress with silk appliqued Christmas lights to my company party. My only explanation (rationalization) is that it was 1991 and everyone wore parrot colors with big hair. I agree. I like the sweaters (some of them), really like fun Xmas ties. Just exercise a bit of restraint:-). MM
ROTFL!! I SOOOOO want that flamingo sweater! I must have that, seriously. It's so hideous it approaches being some new self-referential art form. A postmodern statement on the dislocation of the Self in a fractured multicultural world...
I saw a website once that was all ugly living rooms. I wish I had that URL--It was so good. This would make a good website too. Really ugly theme clothing. I would check in on a regular basis.
Great hub--I'm with you on this one. Ho freakin' ho. (o:
MM: I used to have a couple of Xmas themed sweaters but eventually got tired of them. Now I just wear pins --- a gingerbread man pin, a bell pin, and several tree pins. Clinton Kelly and Stacy London of "What Not to Wear" say it's a definite no-no!! I have to check out those ugly christmas sweater websites!
Haha! I agree with you on this one too. I was at my husband's company Christmas party last weekend and it was casual dress, but I still could not believe some of the Christmas-themed shirts and hats people were wearing! I just assumed that casual meant dressy-casual...silly me :)
LOL. It took a lot of restraint from making this a completely pictorial hub. There was just sooo much to choose from. And I deliberately stayed away from the pet sweaters, too.
Hi NYL, How've you been? I have never owned an Xmas themed sweater but definitely have my share of Xmas themed earrings. And I always get compliments on my Xmas lights necklace, which is subtle. People ask me, "Does it light up?" and I say, "Only when I do..."
Pam -- ROFL! "dislocation of the self in a fractured multicultural world." By Kringle, I think you've nailed it, you sociology scion you! I feel like buying that sweater for my neighbors. For some reason known only to them, they have decorated their front yard with lighted PALM TREES. Penguins I can see. But palm trees??? I will have to investigate further. I don't believe there was a nativity scene included (but if so, then the palm trees make sense).
Ardie: I have an antler headband I'd be happy to send you for next year's party! Hope you didn't feel "underdressed" at your hubby's party!!
MightyMom,
The wild Chirstmas sweaters and apparel looks OK on others, but it's not for me.
Thanks for sharing. ~ Barbie Perkins
Thanks, Barbie. I've seen some that are actually quite pretty. People just tend to overdo it...
Man, I feel left out. I don't have one single christmas themed sweater. OK. I used to put jingle bell collars on the dogs, but that's about it. Then on Christmas eve, the dogs and Me would go jogging down the street jingling all the way. I figured the kids would hear it in bed and think it was Santa. No one ever complained, which surprised me. Thanks for planting the seed in my head. Now I'll be looking for one!
well all I can say is that it is Summer here - so no bejewelled, colourful, be-flamingoed ties or sweaters are actually available here to buy and place deliberately upon one's body - big or small - so it's all good!!!! ..just joking - we do have earrings and necklaces etc just not anything in wool...I do put great red bows on the dogs - I really did enjoy your confession of wearing "at 6 months pregnant a green silk dress with silk appliqued Christmas lights to my company party" that would have been so illuminating .....cheers and a ho ho ho to you and yours Mighty Mom....a good hub I enjoyed it.
Well hello there CR. Good to hear from you. I believe it is a crime to impersonate Santa Claus, but very hard to prove (as evidenced by Miracle on 34th Street which we watched last night). I love the story of you and your dogs jogging down the street on Xmas Eve. The dogs may not fly, but I'm a guessin' their master was a few feet off the ground (eggnog anyone?).
Perhaps since we've never actually had our group shower at your place we can make it a holiday themed party. Each guest can come dressed in an Ugly Christmas Sweater!
Ajcor -- Being so Amero-centric as I am, I totally forgot that the seasons are backward down under. I hope you are enjoying a lovely not too hot summer! And for the record, the green silk dress was very tasteful and 6 months pregnant is (or was) not like 9 months pregnant. It wasn't even a maternity dress! But the best part, in looking back at the pics, was that big, big 1991 HAIR and red lipstick. Oh boy, was I a holiday delight... NOT!
Thanks for stopping by. Hope we can get some comment threads going one of these nights. I miss everyone!!!
MM-I hate to say it, but my mother just adores these awful Christmas sweaters! Aghh!
And there ARE sweaters/sweatshirts fer every season, didn't ya know? Pumpkin Halloween sweaters, etc., etc.
Oh Lita, I can't even imagine YOUR mom wearing sweaters like that. I would just assume she is the tree from which your tart and tangy apple fell:-). Well, you know that old French saying, a chaqu'un son gout...
And you're right. There ARE sweaters and jewelry for every season. Hey -- maybe I can make this hub into a series. Valentines attire, Easter attire, St. Patrick's Day attire, 4th of July attire and of course Halloween (which I understand is the 2nd most decorated holiday of the year). We could do an entire Ugly Sweater Calendar... Can you imagine? No. Neither can I. Gag.
Thanks for stopping by and taking time out from discussing serious topics like reaching population critical mass (I was so late getting over there I just decided not to comment). MM
Mighty Mom if you are in the Christmas Spirit or indeed the Christmas Spirit has come upon you, maybe you could be prevailed upon to put your Christmas '91 photo just up for fun -it's too busy raining here for the Summer to actually arrive in all its' heat - altho I am not that much a fan of the really hot weather - it even looks as tho. we may have a damp Christmas - better for the cook !
it would be good to get a thread going but I guess everyone - at this time of year - is off on a frolic of their own.....cheers dears
Well Ms. Ajcor/Annie, I'm working on getting the holiday spirit lit within myself. I'd love to comply and post that old photo -- but it would require digging through a bunch of old pics and I don't really have time now (not shopping and baking -- client work and deadlines). So .. I do hope you will accept this as a reasonable substitute. MM wearing a red suit and holding my little bundle of joy.
Hope you have a damp Christmas or any kind of Christmas that is best for you. Cheers!
Great Hub! I am not a fan Christmas sweaters but a Christmas sweater party sounds hilarious! I would definitely go to one-and I would try to find the most ridiculous sweater to wear! I won't forget the ornament earrings either.
When I was younger I decorated a Christmas shirt with puffy paints. No a days I still use iron on transfers to decorate shirts, which is easy and fun. Just thought maybe that is an idea you might want to add to this great hub.
Hi Tourmaline, I have suggested to Christoph Reilly that we have a virtual Ugly Sweater Party some night on HubPages. Hopefully we can get that going! And yes, please wear your ornament earrings. And socks -- I do like decorative socks!
SweetiePie, you are so creative. I haven't attempted iron on transfers since the early 1970s. I'd probably burn myself and the garment! But I do like the idea!
This is a lovely photo of you Mighty Mom - really it was a silly suggestion on my part I certainly wouldn't want you to have to sift and sort and waste time particularly now when the lunacy is in the process of descending upon us all.....I hope that you and yours have a really great Christmas and don't get snowed or do get snowed in if you so wish....Have a Good One....cheers
LOL, Ajcor! I'd happily waste 5 hours sifting through old photos. My fear is that after all that sifting I wouldn't be able to find the photo after all:-) -- even though I can picture it in my mind. The bigger problem is that the photo includes my ex-husband (father of Kevin, shown with me above at about 4 -- and he's now almost 17, so you can imagine how outdated that is of ME, too!). Anyway, I have to have my current hubby scan photos for me. I don't want to open up a can of worms with him asking why I am suddenly interested in an old photo like that:-). Maybe I will make a New Years resolution to learn to scan, and to FIND MY OLD PHOTOS!
Merry Christmas to you, too. I'll settle for some rain. Cheers, MM
MM- Those are great sweaters now I want to buy one. I am sure I will feel warm in them since just reading your hub gives me such a "warm welcome" to read again and again your hubs when outside the weather is giving me a "cold shoulder"...hehe
CW -- You go right ahead. A bright warm sweater is a good way to stay warm in this Arctic storm that I know is keeping things even colder where you are than here -- and it's pretty cold (for us) down here!
Hey, if you're really interested in some cool fashions, go see the hub by izztl (I hope I have her user name right). It's pretty shocking what passes for haute couture!
Hi Mighty Mom, I personally am way too cool to dress so outlandishly at Christmas but I could probalbly point at someone who might!
Yes, I've always known you were super cool, Ag! I like your fox, is that your alter ego, perchance? BTW, I was shopping in Costco (big, all=purpose box store) yesterday. Something called "Genuine Aussie Treats" caught my eye. I had to stop my cart and take a look at the ingredients. To my horror (and thus proving they could not be genuine at all) "sultanas" was not among them. Nor was Vegemite (thank God). Anyway, now that you're all dressed up, I hope you have somewhere to go that's festive and fun. Happy holidays, friend! MM
MM, (ahem) the alter-ego is the one wearing the hat! He does the typing and sometimes I let him out . You know how it is with people? He is always making typos. and I have to watch him like a fox. (note from a-e, Ag just could not bring himself to say "hawk", and he only thinks I'm the a-e, I'm really the brains of the partnership).
So MM what was in this "Genuine Aussie Treats" that was so good they could not include "sultanas" and "Vegemite" . Was there any "Tim Tams" or "Monte Carlos"
On a more serious note we both hope that you and your loved ones are able to put aside the sadnesses of 2008 long enough to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Hoo Roo for now, your friend Ag. oh and him!
Thank you both! I wish you and your human a happy Christmas also. MM
I just want a pretty Nativity woman's cardigan, size L or 14. Preferably with some black in it on a red background... or on a black background! I found one last year in a store but I passed it up because of finances and now kick myself.
Hi Joan! Well, with the sales that are going on this year I hope you are able to find it again -- or something like it -- and at a great bargain price. Wishing you a lovely Christmas. MM
I love Christmas sweaters. I don't wear them anymore but I did at one time I wore them for my grand-babies they loved them. I also use to wear a fuzzy Cookie Monster t-shirt. As soon as a grand-baby saw it they came crawling to me just so they could touch Cookie Monster or the sparkle on Christmas sweaters. Now my grand-babies would so embarrassed if I wore one. Their to grown-up for that now.
I think Christmas sweaters are all in good fun and nothing wrong with it.
Hi Moonlake, I love your story of your grandbabies crawling to touch your sweaters and t-shirt! That is precious! I agree, holiday sweaters make the wearer feel festive and they seem to do that very well. I'm sitting here writing this in my Santa Claus hat...
I know it has been awhile since I visited, but I just submitted this article to digg. Getting ready to think of Christmas hubs again too :).
Babe, ya know what you need to add to this? A video of Ren And Stimpy doing a song called "Decorate Yourself"! It's funny as hell and totally appropriate. It's even reminiscent of The Beatles!
As you know I am a slave to your fashion advice. Also an avid R&S fan. Will check out the video and if deemed appropriate to decorate my hub, will duly credit you! MM
I attended an Ugly Christmas sweater party last year and it was one of the best parties I've ever been too! Ebay and Goodwill have a large selection of Ugly Christmas Sweaters. Also I found a cool site that has a large selection of ugly Christmas Sweaters...
Thanks, Adam! The only problem with these sweaters is too many people wear them for real and not as a joke.
lori763 says:
11 months ago
Hi Mighty Mom,
It seems that I agree with you! Pretty cool how you did the photo slideshow.