Ugly Sweater Christmas Party Part 1

Countless days of cold, snow, blustery winds and no sun have pushed my limits. It's time to take action and put the S in sparkle, G in glitter, J in jingle and F in fun. Hosting an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party should do the trick. 

A Christmas jumper, or Christmas sweater, is a knitted top pulled on over the head to cover the torso, that is themed with a Christmas or winter-style design. Often considered tacky or gaudy. They have had a resurgence in popularity during the last decade with both high-street and designer brands producing them. These sweaters were first mass manufactured under the name "jingle bell sweaters". Vancouver, Canada claims to be the birthplace of the first "Ugly Sweater Christmas Party" in 2002.

An ugly Christmas sweater used to be a typical gift from a well-meaning relative. You might have worn the sweater to avoiding hurting anyone’s feelings or as an ironic holiday statement eccentric enough for you to stand out in a crowd, or been a purchase by a teacher such as myself. At one point in time during my teaching career I had enough holiday themed sweaters to wear a different one for two weeks straight. And I might add the same for Halloween. Lucky I did not purge myself of all themed wear and still have four.

This is my favorite reindeer themed sweater-perfect for the party.

Pinpointing the rise of the Ugly Christmas Sweater is no easy task. However two sweater icons stand out: Bill Cosby (as Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show) and Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation movie. Both made it fashionable to wear these hideously appealing sweaters. 

This trend faded in the 90’s, but resurfaced once again around 2001. This hot fashion trend has been steadily on the rise as ugly Christmas sweaters and parties are once again highly fashionable. Thrift and vintage stores are selling out and major retailers are even selling the outdated winter wear. I read once where one reindeer-emblazoned sweater even went for $282.59 on eBay. Even Jimmy Fallon has chimed in on the tacky Christmas trend on The Late Night Show with his parody found on youtube the 12 Days of Christmas Sweaters .

The plethora of party ideas makes your head swim with all the choices for games, food and decorations. It took a bit research and lots of color ink cartridges for free printables to pull all this together.  

 Grinch Beverage Bar 

Rudolph's Dessert Bar

and several Rudolph's Food Stations were set up for the guests to enjoy.

Check back tomorrow for game and food ideas just in case you are thinking of hosting an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Remember January is a long month and everyone needs an excuse to party and have a bit of fun.