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You’re going to love this list of the best ugly Christmas sweater ideas — whether you’re trying to keep your ugly Christmas contest winning streak going, or just want to light up the room with some woven holiday spirit! The holidays are the perfect time to let loose by letting go of all your fashion faux-pa fears!
First, it is important to be reminded of what makes an ugly Christmas sweater so…well, ugly:
“An ugly Christmas sweater is any Christmas-themed sweater that could be considered in bad taste, tacky, or gaudy. The general consensus is that the more embellishments—tinsel, reindeer, Santa Clauses, candy canes, elves, presents, etc.—the uglier the sweater.“
– Mary Bellis, ThoughtCo.
There you have it! In order to properly keep this holiday fashion trend tradition alive, you need to find a sweater that is tacky, gaudy & obnoxiously covered in crazy embellishments! You might be thinking this isn’t entirely true — and you’re right, as the popular characteristics of ugly Christmas sweaters has evolved over time and now include usage of pop culture, humor, nostalgic references and more. This is a good thing though, as the broader, modern definition gives you more opportunities to get creative!
The Best Ugly Christmas Sweater Ideas🎄
Here are just some of the many options available to wear as you to gleefully rock around the Christmas tree this season. WOOT WOOT!
1. Embellished Dinosaur Sweater
One of the cutest ugly Christmas sweaters on this list is definitely this 3-D “Tree-rex Wrecker” style, complete with classic holiday colored patterns and epic embellishments like TINSEL! 🤩
☃️Get on Amazon: Tree-Rex Wrecker Sweater (Unisex)
2. Winter is Coming Ugly Christmas Sweater
With this sweater, you can sport your favorite show and the subtly dark motto of the Starks: Winter is Coming!
🎅🏻 Get on Merchoid: Winter is Coming Sweater
3. Karen Yelling at Grumpy Cat Sweater
If this sweater immediately makes you drop your jaw in awe, then it’s safe to say you’re familiar with this sass-heavy duo from all the memes plastered on your social media feeds!
🎄Get on Etsy: Grumpy Cat + Karen Christmas Sweater
4. Will Smith & Chris Rock Slap Sweater
Do you want to wear an epic style that “WILL” “ROCK”? If so, all you need to do is grab yourself this sweater which features this year’s classic moment from the Oscars when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock silly!
☃️ Get at Gear Fandom: Will Smith Slaps Chris Rock Sweater
5. Delete your Cookies Sweater
For all the IT folks out there who want to find the perfect sweater, I only have three words for you: YOU ARE WELCOME! 😂 This cute idea is funny, clever and geek-squad approved so you can’t go wrong if you decide to rock this little nugget of linen!
🎅🏻 Get on Etsy: Tech Support Christmas Sweater
6. “Happy Easter” Ugly Christmas Sweater
Unless you’ve been hiding underneath a giant snowball your whole life, you’ve heard the frequent forgetfulness the current president spews out. Because of that, this ugly Christmas sweater idea is funny because it wouldn’t surprise any of us if he addressed the nation on December 25th with “Happy Easter!” as the opening sentence. 😂
🎄Get on Etsy: Joe Biden Happy Easter Sweater
7. Sparkly Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Sweater
This red-hot pick made the list for many reasons besides the fact that our beloved Rudolph is on the front and that reason is the GLITTER! Tell me how you could possible pass up a sweater of a reindeer that has sparkly fur and a light-up nose?! Yup – the nose actually lights up. I can’t even deal with the jolly levels of cuteness right now…
☃️Get on Tipsy Elves: Rudolph Reindeer Sweater
8. For Popeyes Chicken Lovers
This one is for the ones who “love that chicken” – Popeyes chicken to be exact. This style has nothing to do with Christmas and omits traditional holiday colors, but that’s okay because it lets everyone know your dedication to fried chicken. Oh, and it comes with a matching beanie. 😁
🎄Get at Ugly Christmas Sweater: Popeyes Sweater
9. Buddy the Elf Ugly Christmas Sweater
One of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, “elf“, has been and always will inspire fantastic sweater designs just like this one. “Son of a nutcracker” , it’s cute!
🎅🏻 Get on Just Geek: elf Ugly Christmas Sweater
10. I Christmas Harder than You (Light-Up)
Make a statement by not only stating the fact that you Christmas harder than everyone else in the room, but DECLARE that fact by making your sweater light up.
☃️Get on Spirit: Christmas Harder Sweater
Honorable Mentions
For even more ugly Christmas sweater ideas, check out the awesome collections available from these merry merchants:
- 🎄Tipsy Elves: Ugly Christmas Sweaters
- Let it Snow (Light-Up) – Black and white sweater with light up effect.
- A Christmas Story (Leg Lamp) – Sweater featuring the “leg lamp” from the classic film.
- Beers under the Tree – Includes holsters for beer cans underneath the sweater’s tree.
- ☃️Ugly Christmas Sweaters: Holiday Sweater Collection
- Star Wars – brown and red design with a hairy Chewbacca sporting a classic Santa Claus cap!
- Reindeer Ring-Toss – Interactive sweater option with 3D antlers for a game of ring toss.
- Xbox Console – Green, black & white sweater featuring the Xbox logo – perfect for gamers!
- 🎅🏻 Amazon: Ugly Christmas Sweaters
- Santa Claws – Cute sweater of a cat wearing an ugly sweater and Santa hat.
- Christmas Tree – Green sweater wrapped in tinsel & mini ornaments.
- Reindeer Gainz – Light-Up Christmas sweater featuring a fit reindeer lifting weights in the snow!
Merry Christmas, all! 🙂