As the semester winds down ( and I procrastinate grading), I offer a quick history of the ugly Christmas sweater. Having lived through the '80s, I assumed it was a holdover from the fashion excesses of that time, cropping up in thrift stores under the labels of "kitschy" and "retro". Canada claims the first "ugly sweater party" from 2002 and December 20th is the official day (whoops, just missed it), though in our house, we remember ugly sweater parties from our youth. The Ugly Sweater of my childhood was later called the Cliff Huxtable sweater as worn by the father in the Cosby show, unrelated to any holiday themes, but that association has been dampened by that individual's terrible behavior.
Holiday themed clothing has been around for some time, and this quick query keeps it firmly linked to western silhouettes and American consumerism. I'm not out to write a dissertation on this topic, but maybe I can find some true gems out there! On one hand, there's the effort to seek something tacky and augmenting it, or taking a meta approach and buying a contemporary article of clothing that is already as ugly as possible.
But who decides what is ugly? "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!" And then, on the other hand, there are those that seek a vintage garment that might not have been considered ugly at the time it was created, but is considered ugly now through the lens of 2019. This topic is an interesting example of the study of "trends." Sidebar: I remember when mid-century modern was tacky (thanks Brady Bunch reruns) and is now revered (I think, thanks in no small part to Mad Men). There is definitely a shift towards intentional excess with the introduction of sequins and then LEDs in the late '90s and early aughts. Currently, there is a trend towards meme mashups using the Christmas sweater as a canvas- dabbing Santas, taco Tuesday, and Rap Artists.
Anyway, a quick look at vintage knitting patterns, the Sears catalog archive, and a variety of Pinterest boards has netted the following results from the 1940s-2019:
Happy holidays! See you in 2020-