In a holiday that is steeped in mythology the modern ugly sweater is a tradition that is just as veiled in mystery as the true origin of the colours of Christmas, why pantomime isn't popular outside of Britain, what makes Christmas fruit cake is so popular amongst dwarfs, what Boxing Day is and why the eleven twelfths of the Twelve Days Of Christmas are actually after December 25th.
And depsite
many attempts to get to the bottom of the story there just doesn;t seem to be any consensus. Certainly US comedian Bill Cosby and British gameshow host Richard Whitelly are most famous - at least in my televisual frame of reference - for their ugly sweaters but my personal theory is that it was Noel Edmunds, host of The Late, Late Breakfast Show and the man who gave the world Deal Or No Deal, that created the Christmas ugly sweater. Already famous for touting badly-designed jumpers sent in by hordes of British nannas, Noel (whose name happens to be Christmas in French) went all out when hosting his Christmas specials on UK television in the 1980s.
And what better a medium to host such a revival than that ultimate of Eighties licenses -
Star Wars! When ugly sweaters became fashionable enough to warrant a specific
Star Warslicense is lost to the mists of time but currently
UglyChristmasSweater.com is the reigning king of all naff Noël knitwear.
Be quick though because time is running short - their current sale is seeing stock levels drop like the jaw of a Toydarian who has just spotted a buy one-get one free offer at Gragra's gorg stall.
Thanks to
UglyChristmasSweater.com for providing a sample, and a Happy Kitchmas to you all because nothing says Christmas like an ugly sweater - even when you live in subtropical Australia and mid-summer's day is only a week away!
