Updated March 3, 2024
Since 2011, National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day has grown to be an international event. Now occurring on the third Friday of December, the celebration gives holiday lovers worldwide a chance to wear their ugly Christmas sweaters.
- 1950s – Christmas Sweaters Once Went by a Different Name. Holiday sweaters were first manufactured on a grand scale sometime during the 1950s. Back then, they were actually produced under the name “Jingle Bell Sweaters” instead.
- 1980s – The ugly sweater first became a household meme in the 1980s with The Cosby Show’s, Bill Huxtable leading the way. Chevy Chase’s character in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation added the holiday twist to this look. These well-known leading actors were playing decidedly unhip characters, who had no fashion sense at all.
- 1980s – The actual mass-market ugly sweater reached its peak popularity sometime in the 1980s
- 2001 – it wasn’t until 2001 when Bridget Jones’ Diary was released that things got even more interesting for ugly sweaters, Mark Darcy, the character played by Colin Firth in the film, sported a ridiculous reindeer ugly sweater.
- 2002 – The First Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Was Held in Vancouver, Canada. That’s right- The original party for unappealing Christmas sweaters traces back to Vancouver. In 2002, the Commodore Ballroom hosted the party.
- 2011 – It started as a joke. A resale retail store noticed an unruly amount of unfortunate sweaters knitted by relatives or ridiculously decorated with festive accouterments coming in their doors. So, as a joke, they put them up for sale.
- 2011 – San Diego-based duo Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton started the business Tipsy Elves in 2011. Their silly depictions of Christmas characters including Santa and the Bumble won over the heart and wallet of Shark Tank’s investor, Robert Herjavec. He offered $100,000 for 10% of the company. Mendelsohn and Morton accepted the offer, which became one of Herjavec’s most profitable investments on the show.
- 2012 – From 2012 to 2015, the Ugly Sweater industry grew by 200%.
- 2014 – they partnered with Save the Children in their “Make the World Better with a Sweater” campaign.
- 23% of people will buy an ugly sweater. It’s bound to happen! Whether it’s for a house party, an office event, or for family photos, 23% of people don’t doubt that they’ll be joining the ugly sweater brigade
- Uglychristmassweaters.com made $5 million. This company knows their ugly sweaters. In only three years, their profit has skyrocketed into being a multimillion dollar company.
- On Nordstrom.com, one ugly Christmas sweater costs $600 (in 2013).
- Animal or cartoon characters with a holiday theme give sweaters a kitsch feel. Think reindeer, snowmen, mice, kittens or elves.
- Select ridiculous colors. The more they clash, the better.
- Embellish. Scratch that. Over-embellish! Pom-poms, bells, felt, tinsel, or any other glittery, jingly items lying around the house.
- Add a collar, dickey, or ruffle.
- Electrify it! Put Rudolph to shame and go to the head of the team with bright, flashing lights!
- Give it some 80s flair with shoulder pads.
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