The Ugly Christmas Sweater (& Jumpers) Party Trend Spreads Around the World
The Ugly Christmas Sweater trend has taken off around the world!
But if you ask someone in Australia, they'll call them Christmas jumpers. Same goes for the U.K. No matter the lingo, the tacky holiday knits are loved on both sides of the pond. People in in the USA and Canada have been celebrating the holiday season with ugly Christmas sweater parties for years, but now the Brits are jumping on the bandwagon along with the folks 'down under'.
The trend really took off in the UK in 2009, when google searches for 'ugly Christmas jumpers' went through roof. Each year since, the demand for the tacky knits has grown in the UK, with demand in 2012 hitting all time highs.
The graph below shows interest in 'ugly Christmas jumpers' in the UK from 2004 - 2012. Explosive growth!
In Australia, they love their jumpers year round, with increased demand in July (their winter) for 'Christmas in July' parties. But it's still December seeing huge spikes in interest, as seen in this graph. Note the July spike of interest for July 2012. Awesome!
Canadians have been loving their 'Ugly Christmas Sweater' parties for years - and there's no sign of slowing down!
But what's really cool is to see how the trend is spreading across Canada.
Here's a graph for 2009 and also 2010 - showing that searches for 'christmas sweaters' is primarily confined to only one province.
Now look at 2011 BAM! - the trend is catching on!
And now see what happened in Canada in 2012 - more growth! With no sign of slowing down - get your ugly on!
No matter if you call them ugly Christmas sweaters or Christmas jumpers, you can be sure that these themed parties will be popping up in more and more states, provinces, and countries around the world for years to come. And why not? People around the world love the idea of adding a fun dress-up theme to their holiday parties, and tacky holiday knits are never going out of style!
Also, check out our blog post on the incredible rise in popularity of ugly Christmas sweaters in the USA.
Graph Credit: all graphs are from google trends.