The Great Christmas Sweater Debate

I might have a few…

During my first year of teaching, one of the teachers remarked she had a Christmas top for every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought that seemed a little out there at the time. A few years later, I decided that was a pretty good goal to have! I don’t remember my first Christmas sweater. I think it may have been from Kohls. It didn’t make the cut for this post (if it’s the one I’m thinking of). Once I began, it was hard to stop! Luckily, there was eBay and VonMaur! As I have been retired for several years now, these sweaters were purchased many years ago. Since they are worn so infrequently, they look brand new!

An unusual one…

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This is an unusual Christmas sweater in that it is blue. As you will soon see, most of my sweaters are black. I think I purchased this one on eBay. It is from Berek, and you can still shop online! Another way to tell this sweater is old…it still has the shoulder pads in it! Some of the angels are felt; some are satin. I love they are flying around on my back, too!

Up next…

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This is another Berek sweater. I like this sweater and the next because they are pullovers. I wouldn’t wear these now without something under them! I must have run hotter back then! You might notice this is the only set of pictures with these jeans and sneakers. I thought I liked these jeans. The legs are wide and straight. If you hold them out in front of you, they are a rectangle! This is a case where a closer fitting top probably would have looked better, but a hot flash is always around the corner! This was my first outfit for the photo shoot, and I didn’t want to end up a sweaty mess so I just went with it. Those are Stan Smith Adidas sneakers. I want to love them, but they are too bright and shiny new right now. I need to wear them out and scuff them up a bit to feel comfortable in them (isn’t that silly?).

There’s more!

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Another pullover style, this sweater features Santa Claus. I’m not sure if you can tell, but his hat says, “Ho, Ho, Ho!” Luckily, I taught fourth graders and didn’t have to worry about little hands reaching up to pat Santa! Some of my lower grade teacher friends had that problem! Notice how much better this sweater looks with the skinnier jeans and the heeled shoes? Yeah, I definitely noticed a difference!

Seriously? Yep, there are more!

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This is one of my favorite sweaters. I know I bought this one at VonMaur. It is by Marisa Christina which does not appear to be in business anymore. I scanned the listings, but I couldn’t find any for this sweater. This sweater was my most expensive sweater of them all. I loved the ivory color with the gold embroidery and embellishments. It zips, too. I used to have a gold turtleneck to wear with this one and the others that are primarily gold. In one of my clothing purges, I must have gotten rid of it. See, that’s what happens when I purge because I think I need to do it! There is enough silver in the design to work with the silver turtleneck, though.

I’m not finished yet!

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This is another sweater from Marisa Christina. I love the various ornaments cascading down the shoulders. This sweater zips, too. What I like about this is the design carries all around the sweater. So many, like the ivory one, are heavily embellished on the front and very little on the back. Want to know a secret? This turtleneck is really long! It’s folded underneath and reaches up to my bra! OK, I’m also short waisted so maybe it’s not all that long.

My favorite!

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This is my absolute favorite! I love the unexpected pink decorations and that great big bow! I’m not necessarily a big pink girl (oh, that doesn’t sound right, but you know what I mean, right?), but I love the hot pink satin ornaments and the silver beading on this sweater. I always got compliments on this sweater.

And, a few more…

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And, here are the rest of my Christmas sweaters (though I do have a couple that are winter themed). The one with the little angels on the back is by Susan Bristol, another quality manufacturer that didn’t make it. This is actually the back. It’s a v neck cardigan with a few angels on the front. The red one on the bottom row started life as a merino wool cardigan. I had seen a Christmas sweater in the Acorn Shop (which doesn’t appear to exist anymore, either). But, the price was ridiculous for what it was. I popped into a fabric store, bought some coordinating fabrics, gold embroidery floss and cord, and had at it! I remember making this one night. My daughter and youngest son were at home that night. Nigel was out of town on business. We were just hanging around in the living room, me ironing, stitching, and embroidering, the kids watching tv and bickering. It was actually a really lovely night. My daughter reminds me of it when I wear this sweater.

The Lewk!

I didn’t catch an up close shot of my shoes or jewelry. Honestly, these heels made my toes go numb! My last foot surgery fused my big toe so it can’t take heels for very long. These are those “to the car, to the seat, back to the car” kind of shoes. They are Clarks. I purchased them a few years before I retired. They are gorgeous black suede with trapunto stitching around the vamp with a side zipper. I had on my Lago caviar bracelets and earrings. I really am amazed at the huge difference in the photos with the wide leg jeans and the slimmer legs!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

So, what do you think? Are these what you think of when you think ugly Christmas sweaters? I don’t. You won’t hurt my feelings (well, you might a little) if you say they are ugly. When I retired, I gifted several more to one of the instructional assistants at my school. I hope she’s still wearing them even though she’s now retired, too. Do you have an ugly Christmas sweater? Do you go to the parties celebrating them? Or, are you like me and you love the bright and blingy sweaters celebrating the holiday? Please leave a comment or two. I’ll respond; I promise! Let’s settle the great Christmas Debate once and for all! Thanks as always to my wonderful subscribers! And, if you aren’t, please feel free to subscribe!

Where I link up:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, and Away from the Blue.

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