Anne-Marie Bergeron lays claim to a rather unusual title.
“I’m the queen of the ugly Christmas sweaters,” declares the owner of Bang-On T-shirts in Ottawa.
All year long she scours the land, searching for the best of the worst vintage holiday sweaters. She cleans them up and sells them in her tiny Byward Market shop. “This year I was able to gather around 1,000 ugly Christmas sweaters,” she says.
Her customers love them. She’s already sold around half her stock. Ugly Christmas sweaters are the new must-have holiday item. “I see office parties, student parties. Families like to get them and take family Christmas photos with these ugly sweaters,” says Bergeron.
No top is too tacky. No cardigan is too crass. This retro-raiment is enjoying a real renaissance. Celebrities are wearing them. Professional sports teams are issuing their own ugly Christmas sweaters. There’s even a line of ugly Christmas sweater suits.
It’s a fast-growing phenomenon based on a piece of clothing many of us wouldn’t be caught dead in a few decades ago. “I remember my grandmother sending me a couple here and there and I hated it,” says Andrew Smith. “I mean, that was back in the 90’s. But nowadays it’s like you look at it and it just kind of puts a smile on your face.”
Smith is checking out the latest ugly Christmas sweater innovation – the do-it-yourself Ugly Christmas Sweater Kit. It includes a plain red sweater, a collection of trinkets, stencils and other decorations, some fabric glue and a needle and thread. “It’s really easy. I’m not a creative person and I threw this together this morning,” says Wendy Bouwman of Mark’s Work Wearhouse, where they’re selling the Ugly Christmas Sweater Kit for the first time.
Because nothing says Christmas quite like an ugly sweater.
