Ugly Christmas Sweaters!

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to Day #16 of A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S ADVENT CALENDAR, where the temperatures here in my neck of the woods are...above freezing.

And, that makes me very depressed.

Oh, don't get me wrong.  Normally, when the temperature reaches ten degrees Celsius, I'm thrilled.  As far as I'm concerned it could be that temperature 364 days of the year, and I would be perfectly happy with that.  Not too hot. not too cold...just right.

But with the temperatures being this way on Christmas, it just doesn't put me in the holiday spirit.  I grew up with white Christmases and how Christmas snow made Frosty the Snowman come to life, and how we can all wear our ugliest Christmas sweaters ever.

Now it seems as though we're to get spring like temperatures on Christmas Eve, Frosty won't be here this year, and instead of ugly Christmas sweaters, we'll be forced to wear ugly shorts and T-shirts...which isn't the same. 

It'd be fine if I were celebrating Christmas in Australia where it's summer right now, but I'm just not used to it being so warm.  It makes me sad.

I mean, don't get me wrong.  I'm still going to do a post on ugly Christmas sweaters today, but I'm still sad about there likely not being any snow on Christmas this year.

But hey, how about ugly Christmas sweaters?  You know, the ones that are often handmade that have big bright colours and garish designs that you only have the guts to wear once a year?  Did you ever own one?  What did it look like?  And do you still have it?

I'll be the first to admit that I never really owned a Christmas sweater that could be considered ugly.  Summer shirts, yes, I wore some doozies.  But winter sweaters, not really.  I almost feel as though I have been left out of the ugly sweater fun all these years because I've never had one.

So, I decided to scourge the Internet and see if I could find some examples of some of the ugliest Christmas sweaters ever made.  And, let's just say that I think I succeeded.

Some are designs that I would actually consider wearing.  Some are ugly as sin and I would probably not touch them.  And one is so inappropriate, I feel that I have to issue a warning within this blog when I get to that one!

We'll start with a sweater that garnered a bit of controversy in some Target stores.

1.  Obsessive Christmas Disorder.  Obviously this was meant as a jab at Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which is a very real ailment that a lot of people suffer from.  I can understand why some people wouldn't like this...but on the flipside, I can probably think of a couple of people who would absolutely get this shirt!

2.  For those of you who may not really remember the significance of this shirt, that leg lamp was a key plot device in the 1983 classic film "A Christmas Story".  You'll have to watch the movie to get the reference, but I'll say this.  Even though I love the movie, I'd never wear this sweater.

3.  This sweater on the other hand?  I want it.  Like right now.  Heck, I would have wanted it back in 1989 if they had existed.

4.  Happy Elfin' Holiday?  I'm guessing that this is meant to sound naughty, even though I think they ever so slightly missed the mark here.

5.  I'm fairly sure that if I wore this sweater to work, I would either A) get sent home for wearing inappropriate clothing, B) get laughed at and made fun of by co-workers, or C) accidentally get baby Jesus stuck in the cardboard compactor when making a bale of cardboard.

6.  This one is not too bad...though I could have sworn that I had a roll of wrapping paper that had that same design...and let's face it - if you look like a present waiting to be unwrapped, bad things happen.

7.  Wow, look at how stylish Matt Damon looks in his Santa vest!  I can't tell whether he was inspired by an Andy Warhol pop art painting or whether he is colour-blind...but man, that certainly gets your attention!

8.  I'm guessing that this is supposed to be a Spider-Man sweater...it's just a shame that it happens to physically frighten me.

9.  Yeah, let's just give Jesus Christ a red balloon and a party hat since both those things existed during his lifetime.

10.  No lie.  I'd wear this one.  In fact, we sold a similar one at my workplace this Christmas - which we're sold out of. 

11.  This must be the ugly Christmas sweater - Florida edition.

12.  Who needs a Bedazzler when you can just glue on random office supplies from Staples on the sweater?  This sweater could actually come in handy if you need a pen, glue stick, or drinking straw.  Consider it the Swiss Army Sweater!

13.  Why would anyone advertise the single most disgusting holiday treat in the world on their chest?  Some of you may love Fruitcake, but I think they were all baked in 1937 and re-gifted all these years!

14.  A Merry Christmas Yoda Wishes You.  And, yes, I could very well consider wearing this one!

15.  WARNING!  WARNING!  THIS SWEATER IS NOT FOR THE VERY YOUNG OR THOSE WITH PACEMAKERS!

16.  Classy.