Beech Tree News Network

Ugly Christmas sweaters have been all the rage the past several years.  Can’t say I’ve ever been to one personally, but I know a lot attend these parties.  Who started these parties? How did they start? These are the burning questions that I’ve been itching (because the sweaters itch) to discover an answer to. 
I typed “origin of the ugly Christmas sweater” into my Bing search engine and had to sift through quite a few sites.  Finally, www.Time.com presented me with an article titled “A Brief History of the Ugly Christmas Sweater”.  The site explains that, although the sweater as a garment has existed since the late 19th century, hideous (their word, not mine) holiday versions only began to sprout in the last several decades.  Bill Cosby was a modern-day pioneer of the trend and is revered as an ugly sweater icon.  Of course, who can forget the beauty of a sweater that Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold wore in Christmas Vacation? These two had the sweater experience resurgence until their popularity faded in the ‘90’s.
In the past decade, the trend has picked up once again.  They are bigger than ever in a very hipster, oh-so-ironic way.  With the rise of the ugly sweater party, the trend is bigger than ever.  On top of that, Jimmy Fallon has brought it to late night with his “12 Days of Christmas Sweaters”, a truly enjoyable segment.  There is a parody of MTV’s teen documentary series called True Life: I Love Ugly Christmas Sweaters.  How long until President Obama dons one to go along with his dad jeans?
Christmas sweaters are simultaneously beloved and reviled in the U.K. They call them Jumpers, however.  In a scene from Bridget Jones’ Diary, Colin Firth wears a cringe-inducing Christmas sweater his mother gave him to a Christmas party. 
Stand Up To Cancer actually has an Ugly Sweater Campaign ongoing The Dan Patrick Show had a contest where all the Dannettes wore a Christmas sweater and you the viewer got to text who they thought had the best sweater.  For each vote, $10 is donated to Stand Up To Cancer.
I’ve never worn an ugly Christmas sweater.  I did, however, have some very questionable sweaters as a kid.  I’m sure they were popular in the ‘80’s.  Even if they weren’t how would I have known? I will look forward to Jimmy Fallon’s 12 Days of Ugly Christmas Sweaters.  That’s about as close to an ugly Christmas sweater as I care to get.

Hello.  My name is Andy Sullivan.  I received my bachelor’s degree in business from Mid-Continent University in June 2009.  I began writing for beechtree in July 2009.  I enjoy writing, photography, watching basketball and football, and playing guitar.  I also write a blog that encompasses sports and entertainment, called Sports and More, at http://andyuk79.tumblr.com If you have any comments, please leave them in the space below.  Thanks for reading!