a homespun yarn about a woolly tradition

The “ugly” Christmas sweater has been around longer than you may think. In the 1950s, they were called “jingle bell sweaters,” hand-knit with holiday characters like reindeer, snowmen, or even the big guy himself, and the 1980s brought about a surge of colorful, gaudy sweaters thanks to popular entertainment like The Cosby Show and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. While the 90s snubbed such kitschy clothing (strangely and simultaneously embracing low-rise jeans), the good people of Vancouver, B.C., in 2002, brought about a revival with the first Ugly Sweater Parties. The tradition exploded into a global, celebrated phenomenon that endures today—quite literally today. It is National Ugly Sweater Day, time to dig out and show off your most artistically appalling attire, fully embellished with holiday flair…but please don’t call it ugly to Felicity Nichols. She has a refreshing, North Pole perspective on the whole affair.

She’s not wrong.

This year I bought Dennie a gaudy, glittery garment that not only honors the ugly Christmas sweater tradition, it pays homage to our favorite city, one dubbed by the locals as Slothingham, due to the appearance of plush sloths dangling from trees, lampposts, rooftops, windows, and railings all around town. The black sweater features colorful red, green, and white Fair Isle stripes with an ugly-sweater-clad sloth hanging upside down from a tree branch across the front. His pom-pom-embellished Santa hat is glittery red, as is the giant hot cocoa mug he holds in his one free hand. I thought it was hideous, then I saw it on as Dennie prepared for an ugly sweater competition at work. Suddenly the festive “finery” was nothing less than adorable. Felicity is definitely onto something there.

Oh. And then the winner was announced. Spoilers: the prize went to the only employee to show up with a grinning three-toed sloth in tow. Congratulations, my love!