A History Of The Christmas Jumper, Festive Season’s Must-Have Wardrobe Staple
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3 days ago
The original hit knit
With December approaching fast, there isn’t a shop on the high street without a Christmas jumper (or two, or three). And while we love cosying up in a chunky knit throughout the winter months, we can’t help but wonder: where did this festive tradition come from? Below, we run through a modern history of the Christmas jumper – and how to get involved with Christmas Jumper Day this year.
Tracking The History Of The Christmas Jumper
Scandi Origins
Picture today’s Christmas jumper: it’s brightly coloured, heavily decorated (there might be glitter involved) and Santa Claus likely has a starring feature.
The original Christmas jumper, however? Nothing like that. The early makings of the knitted tradition can be traced back to 19th century Scandinavia. These jumpers, which were much more minimalist in style, were thick and woolly – designed to keep out the chill that pervaded Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
These first jumpers also served a purpose: they were hand-knitted by women in local Scandi communities, who used them to help distinguish different groups of fishermen.
As for what they looked like, think warm and sturdy; Scandi women knitted these jumpers with local sheep’s wool. And while not as brightly coloured as its modern counterpart, these jumpers did feature decoration in the form of knitted patterns. Traditional Nordic designs, like the ‘selburose’ snowflake, were the most popular – and again played a part in helping those on land pick out their loved ones.
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The Scottish Take
It wasn’t just Scandi style that shaped the festive knit, either – over in the UK, the classic Fair Isle knit was also taking shape.
Hailing from the Scottish island of (you guessed it) Fair Isle, this pattern can also be traced back to the 19th century. And just like their northern European counterparts, Fair Isle dwellers similarly knitted their jumpers (this time in a distinctive two-colour-per-row style) to create hard-wearing layers for local fishermen.
The style became a mainstream hit in the UK, however, in 1921, when the then-Prince of Wales wore a Fair Isle waistcoat in public. (It must run in the family, because today’s royals are also big fans – Kate Middleton is often spotted in a few Fair Isle jumpers throughout autumn and winter.) Now given the royal approval, the knit trickled onto the radar of the upper classes and fashion-forward, who saw it as a prime winter staple.
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Après-Ski
Fast forward a few decades, and the humble knit has reached international status – largely thanks to rise of luxe ski culture. Skiing picked up in popularity following the 1918 influenza pandemic, which encouraged a boom in health and wellbeing (as well as demand for extra knitted layers).
This is when we started to see the modern Christmas jumper take shape. While ski slopes were reserved for active and performance-wear, warmly-lit chalets offered a much more glamorous backdrop – and so, après-ski style was born. Skiers were after colourful, chunky jumpers that could keep them warm against the elements and pack a punch in style.
And while snowflakes and knitted patterns remained a classic, this was also the point where designs started to branch out. Think reindeer, robins, winter florals and even small armies of alpine skiers.
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The same popularity was felt closer to home. By the time the 60s rolled around, knitwear was a festive mainstay. In the UK, they were known as ‘Jingle Bell Sweaters’ – and became the go-to choice for Christmas gifting.
Getting Cringe
It wasn’t all chic knits, however. By the 90s, Christmas jumpers had fallen under the ‘gag gifts’ category of festive shopping, thanks to retailers hamming up classic knits with crude slogans and clashing patterns. Instead of the cashmere rail, you were more likely to find them next to ugly socks, parody advent calendars and joke shop toys. (And if you’re struggling to gauge disapproval levels, just think of Colin Firth’s reindeer jumper in Bridget Jones.)
But despite the shift in public perception, Christmas jumpers – especially the bad ones – remained somewhat popular. It even became something of a challenge for families to seek out the ugliest knitted designs they could find, with the goal of having the funniest-looking jumper that year.
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The Revival: Christmas Jumper Day
And then we arrive at the here and now. We’ve slowly but steadily been leaning back into Christmas jumper fashion, repeating history with a revival of stylish knits celebrating festive season. And today, you’ll find a number of high profile brands and designers – Burberry, Bella Freud, Ralph Lauren, to name a few – throwing their hat in the ring and offering their take on the traditional knit.
The trend has also inspired one the UK’s favourite festive events: Christmas Jumper Day. Set up by Save the Children in 2012, the annual charity event encourages people to wear their best Christmas jumper and raise fund to help vulnerable children all over the world.
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When Is Christmas Jumper Day?
This year, Christmas Jumper Day falls on Thursday 11 December in the UK. You can kit yourself out in one of these hit knits, and find out more about the celebration here.
