It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to drink, overeat, and wear a sleighful of ugly and funny Christmas sweaters. As if you needed an excuse!
And here at SillySanta, we take the art of Christmas sweater pageantry very seriously.
Christmas Sweaters Done Right
When it comes to the holidays, we go harder than Bruce Willis at the annual Christmas party.
Our Christmas sweater collection has everything from the traditional and wholesome to the gaudy and downright absurd.
Stage the perfect Christmas card, dazzle at the office, or raise money for National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.
Whatever your taste, we guarantee it’ll be love at first sight!
More Than Just Christmas Sweaters
Fresh off the icy runways of the North Pole, our festive knitwear has a regular fit and is 100% Silly Santa-approved. Vegan? No problem! We use only the finest, high-quality acrylic yarn to keep you warm and cozy.
Choose from light-up Christmas sweaters to knitted waistcoats, vests, cardigans, and embroidered sweatshirts.
We have a tremendous selection of men’s, women’s, and kids’ holiday pullovers in a variety of sizes - perfect if you want matching Christmas sweaters for all the family.
Different Types of Christmas Sweaters
Christmas sweaters come in all shapes and sizes. But which is best for that corporate event, cozy family gathering, or as a thoughtful gift?
Here’s a breakdown of some popular styles to help you decide.
Traditional, Patterned, and Retro
Based on Nordic, Scandinavian, and other regional knit patterns, this retro style never gets old.
Typically adorned with wintery motifs, geometric patterns, and contrasting bands of color, each region has its distinctive take on the classic knitted sweater.
Notable patterns include:
The Marius Sweater (Norway)
Named after the skier Marius Eriksen, the Marius Sweater traditionally features red, white, and navy blue - the colors of the Norwegian flag. It’s similar to the older Setesdal sweater (or Lusekofte) and incorporates some of the same Fana-style patterns. For example, the Selburose - an eight-pointed rose often likened to a snowflake.
The Lopapeysa Sweater (Iceland)
This spikey, zig-zag design uses earthy and muted tones such as brown, grey, black, and white. Like the Marius sweater, the Lopapeysa focuses on the neckline.
The Fair Isle Sweater (The Shetland Islands)
Named after its birthplace, Fair Isle, it often features a repetitive ‘OXO’ pattern with stranded colorwork. In its heyday, this knitwear was limited to a strict palette, with each row using no more than two colors.
Today, these famous patterns have become more Christmassy, with reindeer, pine trees, and mistletoe now integrated into the classic design. And nowadays, you’ll find all these knits in various bright and contemporary colors.
Not to be outdone, we’ve created our own version of the traditional Christmas sweater - with a modern (and cheeky) twist, of course. Think pink unicorns, dinosaurs, candy canes, and lashings of beer!
Classic, Cutesy, and Family-Friendly
Ideal for people of all ages, these wholesome pullovers feature cute reindeer, snowmen, penguins, and gingerbread houses. Basically, anything and everything that has to do with Christmas.
They’re the kind of holiday attire you’ll see in Christmas movies and sitcoms from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, with family favorites such as Rudolph and Santa taking center stage.
Choose from fluffy, glittery, knitted, and embroidered sweaters - we have it all!
Funny, Wordy, and Nostalgic
If you love movie catchphrases, puns, and holiday-themed wordplay, then our range of funny Christmas sweaters is a dream come true.
They’re great conversation starters and make a terrific gag gift for fellow Yulephiles, movie nerds, and aspiring jokesters.
Some of our slogans can be a little rambunctious. So think twice before attending that important meeting or visiting grandma.
Ugly, Nerdy, and Geek Chic
These overly embellished statement pieces take holiday cheer to the next level and then some. In fact, it’ll look like Christmas barfed all over you.
Plastered with glitter, baubles, pom poms, beer pockets, and LED lights, this eccentric look isn’t for the faint-hearted.
So if you want to get noticed at the office party, this tacky geek chic should be at the top of your list.
Movies, Television, and Memorabilia
Who says Christmas has to be all Santa Claus, reindeer, and snowmen?!
That’s why we have a large choice of movie and television-themed Christmas merch. All limited edition, of course!
We have everything from the Moomins, Batman, Friends, Harry Potter, and more to appease even the biggest fans.
A Very Tacky Christmas Sweater Tale
So when did the Christmas sweater tradition begin? And before you ask. No, it wasn’t your grandma, but probably somebody else's.
Nordic Roots and Royal Ties
Once upon a time, in the mystical land of the Nisse, it’s thought that the first Christmas sweater was knitted sometime around the 1800s (maybe even earlier).
Of course, they weren’t known as ‘ugly’ or even ‘Christmas sweaters’ back then.
These nature-inspired wooly pullovers kept fishermen in Norway, Sweden, and Iceland warm. Hey, it gets pretty cold up North! Just picture that icy wall from Game of Thrones, and you get the idea.
Later came the Shetland Islands with their take on the geometric knitwear - Fair Isle. The style became popular around the 1920s after the, then, Prince of Wales started sporting the look.
But it wasn’t until skiing became all the rage that the colorful festive sweater gained some traction - and on a global scale.
The Rise of The Jingle Bell Sweater
Around the 1950s, the silver screen helped popularize the iconic Nordic pullover once again.
And the ‘Jingle Bell Sweater’ was born, with Hollywood A-listers Ingrid Bergman, Marlyn Monroe, and Clark Gable adding to demand.
Roll on the 1980s (where else) and the ugly Christmas sweater, as we know it, started to appear in movies, sitcoms, and holiday specials.
And who can forget Colin Firth wearing that fetching reindeer sweater in the 2001 classic - Bridget Jones’s Diary? Not us!
A Non-Stop Ugly Christmas Sweater Party
Today, Christmas sweaters serve as an ironic shoutout to times gone by. There’s even a National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day and an annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party to celebrate this retro yuletide trend.
And here at SillySanta, we believe the more embellished the sweater, the better.
Our story started in 2016, and we won’t stop until we have the funniest Christmas sweaters in Europe and beyond.
No wonder we have over 500,000 happy customers. Not convinced? Here’s what some of them had to say.
“My wife really loved it!” explains Pablo, the proud owner of our Namasleigh and striped beer sweater. “We've just started a new fun Xmas tradition.”
While Vera praised our “great selection of Christmas sweaters”, commenting that our unicorn sweater “fit well and looked great”.
And Mihai, who purchased our Love Actually sweater, gushed how his “fiancee loves it”.
Not forgetting Yelyzaveta, who felt our You Miss, You Drink! sweater was “the best Christmas present… really funny and nice”.
