It’s that time of year again. That time when colourful decorations go up all over the place – in your own house and everywhere you go. That time when mince pies become an acceptable coffee break snack; when the TV starts showing classic films on a daily basis; and when it becomes acceptable, if not expected, that the go-to item of clothing will be extravagant knitted masterpiece. That’s right, now is the season of the Christmas jumper.
The main thing about a Christmas jumper is that it should be entertaining. Something about it should just make you smile; whether this is the fact that it’s super colourful, that it’s cute, that it’s funny, that it has a great slogan on it– it doesn’t really matter which one(s) it is so long as it ticks one of the boxes. But more often than not, the more over the top the jumper is, the better. For those looking to make an impact we’ve had a look at some of the strangest ideas and here are our ideas for what makes a great OTT Christmas jumper.
A popular idea is to have a “place head here” kind of jumper – the body of an elf on the jumper but minus head so that your head is the elf’s head (ditto snowman, Santa Claus, etc). But to make these better, any buttons the elf/snowman etc might have should be real buttons rather than part of the knitted design, and perhaps the bells on its shoes might be real and jingle when you move.
If the jumper has all of the snowman on it then a 3D knitted carrot has to be there! While for reindeer/rudolph jumpers a large red pompom is required for the nose at the very least. Extra points if it uses shiny wool, contains a squeaker, if it lights up, or if when you press a button the jumper starts to sing.
Next idea: Christmas tree jumpers are a great jumper to go OTT with. Tiny baubles, one or two centimetres across, can hang off all over the jumper, and tinsel-like wool (or maybe even real tinsel!) can be threaded through the knit. For some real enthusiasts, the jumpers with strings of flashing lights worked into them are a must – just remember to remove the batteries when you wash it and washing by hand might be a good idea… To complete the Christmas tree jumper outfit, wear an angel or a star on your head.
If all of these ideas still don’t tick the box for an OTT Christmas jumper, then all we can suggest is finding the most OTT jumper you can buy and then adding to it yourself. Stitch huge tree decorations to it, sew rows and rows of tinsel around the neck and cuffs, put bows all over it, give it a mini stocking or two filled with sweets on the arms, add bells to it. Do all this and it’ll certainly be over the top! (It just might not be very wearable…)
