Parties, contests, 5Ks invite all to wear ugly sweaters as a badge of dishonor

christmas sweaters ugly
christmas sweaters ugly

We've all seen them. Laughed at the ones modeled in those "awkward family portraits" forwarded via email. Shaken our heads when seeing one coming toward us at a Christmas party. Had at least one smiling up at us from a box -- a gift from an elder relative who possibly knitted the dratted thing herself.

But what once was seen as a sartorial holiday eye-roller (or eyeball-melter!) has now become cool. Much like the movie A Christmas Story, ugly Christmas sweaters have been raised to Christmas Icon status.

In December 2011, they even made Time magazine.

"These tacky garments are now being re-appropriated from their perpetual spot in the wardrobe of great-aunt Edna or your third-grade social studies teacher," according to "A Brief History of the Ugly Christmas Sweater" by Allison Berry for Time magazine.

Berry, in her article, offers "telltale signs" that a sweater is, indeed, an ugly Christmas sweater: "Liberal use of red and green, comically large depictions of snowmen, reindeer, and Christmas trees, and any sort of pom-pom or felt applique." Surprisingly, Berry didn't mention lights.

These particular sweaters have been around for at least a couple of decades. The Time story and an article at uglychristmassweater.com attribute their rise in the 1980s to the Cliff Huxtable character on The Cosby Show, as well as to Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Both stories mention a drop in the sweaters' popularity with the advent of the 1990s, and their resurgence beginning at the turn of the millennium. Celebrities have gotten into the ugly Christmas sweater act; online sources name Jimmy Fallon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and even the suave Snoop Dogg as offenders -- ahem, celebrants.

There's even a National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, celebrated the second Friday of each December. It's all about "proudly sporting your favorite ugly Christmas sweater for the entire day ... regardless of circumstances," according to the nationaluglychristmassweaterday.org. "Wear it to school, to work, to a funeral, to your sister's wedding." The site includes a selection of "approved" Ugly Christmas Sweater e-retailers including uglychristmassweaterparty.com, which offers NFL Team Ugly Christmas Sweaters.

Wesley Flippo of San Diego, one of the organizers of the day, says it made its debut in 2011. But he, along with the four San Diego State buddies who helped create it, had been celebrating ugly Christmas sweaters, via party, since 2008. The group eventually "decided to make it a little bigger" than just a party. They submitted the idea for the day to a holiday website ... and the rest is history.

Ugly is as ugly does

"I think the popularity came from the fashion, the style itself," Flippo says. "People wanted a way to get back into the spirit of the holiday in a different way, in a new way ... doing something new and doing something fun."

So what, to him, makes a Christmas sweater ugly? Depends on "how many things are hanging off of it -- sequins, bells and whistles," Flippo says, adding that there's an ongoing, heated debate among him and his fellow organizers as to which of them owns the ugliest sweater.

Flippo believes National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day has indeed helped raise awareness of the charm of the garment. During an interview in advance of last Friday's celebration, he anticipated large participation due to a partnership with Save the Children's Make The World Better With a Sweater campaign. Participants are asked to wear their most "festive" holiday sweater and donate $5 to Save the Children. (See savethechildren.org).

But wait, there's more ugliness. In the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On (Harry N. Abrams, $16.95), Brian Miller, Adam Paulson, and the fittingly named Kevin Wool trace the history of the garment, give party tips, and display more than 100 color photos of sweaters with names like Scarf Face, Wreath Witherspoon and Ryan Treecrest.

Around Arkansas, Ugly Christmas Sweater-related events are becoming as numerous as ugly sweaters themselves, not just via theme parties but by way of Ugly Christmas Sweater 5K runs, one of which was held Dec. 6 at Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia.

"Our group, Making Magnolia Blossom, had wanted to do a 5K in order to raise money/awareness for our organization, but we wanted to add something unique to it," writes organizer Aaron Wallis. "What could be more unique than that which is already prevalent this time of year? Ugly sweaters!"

Racers from the college and the community were asked to wear their ugliest sweaters for competition. The event was smaller than expected, and actual sweaters were scarce because the temperatures rose -- "we think people just decided to wear normal running clothes because of the weather," Wallis reports. But, he adds, "we still had a fantastic time." And a pair of runners did wear matching ugly Christmas T-shirts while another wore a plain pullover sweater vest with dress shirt and bow tie. (Winners were Patrick Daniel, with a time of 20:52, and Cathy Loper, with a time of 27:56.)

Arkansas' finest

A Democrat-Gazette call-out for ugly Christmas sweater photos and stories drew a number of responses from throughout the state.

Reader Linda Smith, 69, of Little Rock threw a Dec. 5 Ugly Christmas Sweater party, complete with Elvis impersonator, for which she wore not only an ugly top and hat but also a real Christmas-tree skirt. The truth, she says, is that "I've had about, through the years, seven or eight sweaters I thought were beautiful until someone told me they were not. It might have been my time in life."

Mike Kirkpatrick of Magnolia sent in a photo of himself, complete with gaudy, bird-image-enriched sweater and elf hat, and "Red Skeleton" -- a skeleton figure in Santa gear. (No apologies to the late comedian Richard "Red" Skelton.)

Members of the staff at Access Rehab and Therapy Services in Jacksonville dress out for an annual Ugly Christmas Sweater contest. Thomas Bartole of the clinic sent in a full-length photo of himself in an unforgettable 2013 ugly Christmas sweater twin set.

"It was the most 'adorable' sweater vest, paired with my mother-in-law's most offensive Christmas poinsettias shirt (and the elf hat for good measure)," Bartole wrote. "It was a landslide victory." And so it should have been. Again, color-blocking, and mixing solids and patterns, is definitely a strong ugly Christmas sweater element.

Beth and Phillip Pemberton of Searcy sent in a photo of themselves in their snazzy Christmas sweaters, his sporting a faux-fur collar and an image of a reindeer in raised, puffy relief. Phillip Pemberton completed his ensemble with a fake red nose and a headband featuring swaying mini-reindeer heads.

"Blissfully unaware of their fashion faux pas, the Pembertons set about spreading their own unique brand of Christmas cheer," the couple wrote as their caption.

Risa Briggs of North Little Rock submitted photos of her family in Christmas finery. "My mother taught school for any years and wore all these sweaters at Christmas for her students," she writes. "This is only a few." Photos include a man sporting an ivory sweater with sparkly embellishments; a couple of children looking not so happy in their sweaters; and a another gentleman who took a cardigan bearing possibly every Christmas image known to man and paired it with Christmas-tree boxer shorts.

Hope Benson of Horseshoe Bend sent us an image of her two sweaters on hangers. We're not sure why she wasn't willing to pose in these navy-colored beauties -- one with a beaded, ribboned Christmas-tree image, green fringe trim and garland-and-bulb-filled Christmas stockings on each sleeve, and the other, similar but with a wreath and real lights.

Laurie Barber of Little Rock sent in a photo of Grayson and Liston Barber, decked out in their ugly Christmas sweater glory in preparation for the Go! Runing Go!bbler Turkey Trot. And Laura McGill of Benton sent in a photo of the staff of Family Practice Associates in Benton sporting their ugly Christmas sweaters, complete with Santa images and a Christmas tree done wrong.

Naughty or nice?

Not every reader thought an ugly Christmas sweater was humorous fare. One forwarded a rebuke from "Santa": "Up here, we're puzzling over your new holiday feature: Your Ugly Christmas Sweater Project. What is that, exactly? Here at the North Pole I'm putting together my Naughty and Nice lists. Your name is on the Naughty side. ... Could you be hurting people's feelings just for a joke? The elves and I haven't seen any ugly Christmas sweaters." Santa goes on to decry his ideas of various modern-day fashion faux pas, including flip-flops, bell bottoms and pajamas in public, before letting us know that "the elves are getting somewhat depressed thinking about someone ridiculing all their handiwork" and that "there's still time to get your name on the Nice list." We figure we're doomed at this point.

For that matter, so are radio station KKPT-FM "The Point" 94.1 and Dugan's Pub. They're partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas to host the inaugural Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, 7 p.m. Friday at the pub, 401 E. Third St., Little Rock. The event is open to the public. Prizes will be awarded for Ugly, Uglier and Ugliest sweaters. The party will feature a holiday atmosphere including Christmas music and decor along with an appearance by Santa. Donations collected that evening will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. For more information, visit kkpt.com or see the event page on Facebook at tinyurl.com/nsxs3mu.

Style on 12/16/2014

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