This special holiday edition of our newsletter takes a lighter turn to look at a tradition that’s become as much a part of the season as lights, cookies, and questionable fashion choices. Ugly Christmas sweaters didn’t start as a joke, but the data shows when they became one!

• Holiday sweaters first became popular in the 1950s–1970s, fueled by home knitting, post-war leisure time, and televised Christmas specials. What we now call “ugly” was once just… festive.
• In the 1980s and 1990s, loud holiday sweaters exploded on TV shows like The Cosby Show and Family Matters, baking exaggerated knits into collective memory.
• The modern ugly sweater party trend dates to the early 2000s, when wearing the loudest, tackiest sweater became the point. 
• Ugly Christmas sweaters are now a multi-billion-dollar global industry, with millions sold each year — many featuring lights, music, or designs that defy logic.