Celebrate National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day on December 18

‘Tis the season to rock ugly Christmas sweaters. National Ugly Christmas Sweater day is on December 18 this year. It’s celebrated on the second Friday of December. This is great because all you need is another holiday that you need to look up to find out when it actually is. Add it to the list with Thanksgiving, Grandparent’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, Sweetest Day, ~~your anniversary~~ and Daylight Savings Time to name a few.

Thanks to the 80’s (Think: Bill Cosby (as Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show) and Chevy Chase (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) and grandma’s everywhere, the ugly Christmas sweater has taken on a life of its own. What started out being known as a conversation, Cosby or jingle bell sweater, now has its own national day and plenty of people celebrating. Some people are buying their ugly Christmas sweaters new or at thrift stores and some are even making their own.

Ugly Christmas sweater parties are popular.

Chris Boyd and Jordan Birch are co-founders of the Commodore Ballroom annual Ugly Sweater party (started in 2002) in Vancouver. They claim to be the founders of ugly sweater parties. They even trademarked the words ugly Christmas sweater and ugly Christmas sweater party. In Vancouver, Ugly Sweater Day is on Dec. 20.

So now on top of Secret Santa at the office, they can add in an ugly sweater day, too.

What exactly is an ugly Christmas sweater?

There’s some criteria to deem a sweater ugly for the Christmas season. The general consensus is that it must be tacky, overly embellished and with an over the top Christmas theme consisting of bold patterns and loud colors. The problem is that there are some funny and naughty ugly Christmas sweaters and some are just plain awesome.

Here’s a bunch, that I would wear or give as gifts (all found on Amazon).