The Rise in Popularity of the Ugly Christmas Sweater

The ugly Christmas sweater party phenomenon is well known in the United States, where the parties were the #1 theme for the 2012 holiday season.  What may be surprising to some is how fast the trend has grown in the states. Although some people have been attending the parties since the early 2000's, it wasn't until 2008 that google found enough searches for 'ugly Christmas sweaters' to even register on their 'google trends' tool. 

It's pretty interesting to see the state by state spread of interest in ugly Christmas sweaters.  For those of us who sell Christmas sweaters, it's no surprise that California has led the way in the growing trend. It's not unusual for people in California to attend 2,3, or even 4 ugly Christmas sweater themed parties each year. They have led the nation in themed office parties, pub crawls, and fundraising galas with the tacky holiday theme.

Check out these graphs from google trends that show the 'ugly Christmas sweater' trend sweeping the nation. The states that are the darker blue have the most growth in interest in the holiday knits. It's clear that the trend is here to stay, and shows no signs of slowing down!

Here's the first google trend graph that registers interest in Ugly Christmas Sweaters in the USA. It is from 2008. California owns it! California: "The Fun State!".

In 2009 the trend starts to take off!

In 2010 you can see modest growth from the year prior....

     and in 2011 the phenomenon took off! 

The 2012 google trends map for 'ugly Christmas sweaters' in the USA (below) shows continued growth, with no sign of slowing down.  This graph matches perfectly to the sweater sales at My Ugly Christmas Sweater - we had more inquiries then ever this year from big states like California and Texas, but also (new this year): Louisiana! We're predicting more 'navy blue' (meaning HUGE interest) in more states for years to come. These themed parties are just catching on in Northern New England as well as Montana, Idaho and Colorado.  In states like California and Texas, where these themed parties have been popular for years, they just keep getting more popular. There's a never ending number of holiday gatherings that area adopting the 'ugly Christmas sweater' theme, and church groups, high schools, road races, and ladies luncheons are all getting in on the fun.  With an increasingly varied selection of holiday sweaters available on the market, the sweaters have also become the go-to funny gift for co-workers and family members alike.             

2012 google trend map

Check out our blog post about the ugly Christmas sweater trend around the world for maps of interest in Canada, the UK,and Australia. Ugly Christmas sweaters rock!