Gaudy tassels, brightly-colored pom-poms, jingling bells and clunky battery attachments that make the whole thing light up like, well, a Christmas tree. There are so many ways to create a tastelessly festive garment especially designed to commemorate the coming holiday season. On Thursday, December 15, this unsightly phenomenon was celebrated at the clinic when National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day came early to Southshore Physical Therapy.

We invite you to join us in all of our hideous glory by taking a peek at our First Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Day photo album!

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A Brief History of the Ugly Christmas Sweater

According to Complex.com, “Christmas-themed sweaters were first produced on a grand scale in the 1950s when the Christmas holiday was becoming increasingly commercialized. Initially referred to as ‘Jingle Bell Sweaters,’ the first-gen ugly sweaters saw decades of modest popularity.”

Tipsyelves.com adds, “The ugly sweater first became a household meme in the 1980s with The Cosby Show’s Cliff 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. But for some reason, the idea of wearing awful sweaters as an ironic statement somehow caught on.”

Regarding the party trend, Anythinklibraries.com says, “The first ugly Christmas sweater party started in Vancouver, British Columbia, where two men claim that they threw the first party. The creators said that they wanted to organize ‘a cheesy, feel good, festive party’ and included the sweaters as a part of that. While they knew it was tongue-in-cheek, word about the party got out and overnight it became a thing.”

Michele Robert Poche