Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not get the Christmas jumper thing?

78 replies

jollyfrenchy · 15/12/2015 23:20

I don't get it. It seems to be the assumption now that everyone has a Christmas jumper. I don't spend a lot on clothes for myself or my kids (they have plenty of clothes though!) and object to paying £8-£15 for a jumper they can only wear for a couple of weeks, and which I don't even like! Their school has 'christmas jumper day', luckily I got them both one in the market second hand stall for £1.

On Christmas Day, we wear smart party clothes, just like we always did when I was a kid. Does anyone else still do that or does everyone wear silly jumpers now??? My girls have some lovely dresses they never get to wear so Christmas is one of the rare times they can dress up.

OP posts:
donajimena · 16/12/2015 07:22

I have just bought them for my two. Two sizes too big. Thats budgetting and forward planning for you ☺

EponasWildDaughter · 16/12/2015 07:22

So is this a fashion thing or a charity thing?

I must be living under a stone. I've heard references to charity/jumper stuff on the radio but apart from that i've noticed nothing new Blush

So you spend £15 or whatever on a jumper in a store so that a tiny bit of that goes to charity? Why not just donate the fifteen quid to charity?

EponasWildDaughter · 16/12/2015 07:23

(DCs all too old or too young for school - so i'm out of the loop a bit at the mo)

WhoKn0wsWhereTheMistletoes · 16/12/2015 07:25

I'm torn on this, I do think it's a bit wasteful, especially for DCs who will grow out of them, but my two absolutely love theirs and have worn them lots this month. I've got one I really like, which is actually reasonably flattering (fine and drapey) and wear it to all the primary school activities etc.

We don't wear them on Christmas Day as the house is too hot with the oven on all morning and extra people around. We also don't dress up in party clothes, none of us like wearing them, we are a family of casual dressers.

MissMogwi · 16/12/2015 07:28

I agree. I've had to get my DD's one for today. So that's two Xmas jumpers and a donation of £2 each for the pleasure.

I've got them thinner, sweater type ones from ASDA. Being 11 and 14, they have very 'specific' ideas of what is passable, but as a PP said, they wouldn't want to be the ones who don't take part.

We're lucky that we can afford this but is a huge waste of money. What about the parents who struggle for money at this time of year? School have even sent a msg home saying a bit of tinsel on a normal jumper will
Not do.

A better idea would be to decorate a normal jumper/t shirt with tinsel, glitter or whatever. Creative and fun.

I've told mine they have to wear these jumpers over Xmas, we'll see how that goes!

OldCrowMedicineShow · 16/12/2015 07:29

It is not a new trend, it was one of the horrors traditions as far back as the 60s, so I am told when a relative would knit a Christmas jumper - and an especially hideous one for your dad.
Noel Edmonds, Val Doonigan and one of the 80s weathermen were famous for their imaginitive Christmas jumpers.

Alfieisnoisy · 16/12/2015 07:32

Am I missing something here?

Surely you are not spending £18 on a "Christmas jumper", you must have money to burn.

Get a normal jumper, add tinsel, add a flashing badge (about £2 in my local shop) and hey presto you have a Christmas jumper.

I've only ever had ine Xmas jumper and that was when DS was a toddler and my Mum bought it.

Honestly, save your money and just dress up an everyday jumper instead.

ShatnersBassoon · 16/12/2015 07:33

It's optional. There are cheaper alternatives, like Xmas t-shirts (homemade cheaper still) or hats, if you want to join in without the expense of a sweater. It's fun for children, is an 'event' in otherwise dull workplaces, and raises plenty for charity. There isn't much to 'get' really.

Whenischristmas · 16/12/2015 07:33

I bought one each from asda for my dc last year. Not expensive. And they wore them again this year. They are quite practical really. They wore them to school and also to see Father Christmas and the switching on of the lights one evening. It's the only actual woolly jumper they have. So YABU.

ProfessorPreciseaBug · 16/12/2015 07:37

As Gnochi says.. they are the fallback for people who don't know what to waste money on.

Given the alternative is something like a computer box for £300 plus or a bit of injected moulded plastic (my little Pony etc) for £80 plus, a jumper may not seem bad value.

It does become difficult when everyone seems to have everything they want.

Narp · 16/12/2015 07:38

You can decorate an existing jumper with some tinsel or pin some baubles on.

No biggie

I don't personally have a Christmas jumper but I think they are quite jolly in a kitsch way.

Pyjamaramadrama · 16/12/2015 07:38

I quite like Christmas jumpers, I don't own one but I do smile when I see people wearing them. They are pointless and money making but I'm in the 'they are fun' camp.

I would be very annoyed if ds school did a Christmas jumper day forcing me to waste money.

I have bought the baby a Christmas babygro I couldn't resist, it's one he can wear all the time anyway.

Narp · 16/12/2015 07:39

And since you got them one for £1 each I'm not sure what the problem is. Do they enjoy wearing them?

SoupDragon · 16/12/2015 07:41

I bought DS1 a Christmas jumper last year and he has worn it loads, not just at Christmas [comfused] to be fair, it's not a gaudy one, it's cream with black "fair isle " reindeer all around it but it is still very clearly a Christmas jumper.

GreatFuckability · 16/12/2015 07:43

Woolly, ugly jumpers are the stuff of my childhood nightmares when my nan would knit these monstrosities and force me to wear them. Wool literally gives me hives.
My DC have Christmas tshirts. And no hives.

Krampus · 16/12/2015 07:43

I was about to post the same as oldcrow

It's not new, the current resurgence is a bit of a silly, humorous take on them. Then of course we have Text Santa who use them as banner for their fundraising day.

MinesAPintOfTea · 16/12/2015 07:45

Its a waste of resources and money. I argued against at my place of work (two women were trying to promote it). Not sure what I'll do if DS's school try to push that sort of thing then.

Only having one woolly jumper is ridiculous except this "winter" when a heavy t shirt will do

Sallystyle · 16/12/2015 07:46

Last year, Xmas jumper day cost me loads.

Five children, £8 each at primark. £2.00 for the privilege of wearing them. I could have decorated a jumper I guess but that wouldn't have gone down too well with my high-school children if they didn't have a proper jumper like their friends.

AnyoneButSanta · 16/12/2015 07:49

I think most adults have acquired one over the years that they can wear every Christmas so I don't mind doing it in the workplace. Schools are more problematic because so many children will literally only get one wear out of them before they grow out of them, but as long as the school includes a suggestion to make your own with felt/baubles/badges etc it's not too onerous. Great was the relief when I realised that DD was now big enough that she could just wear one of my 1980s classics this year.

LizzieMacQueen · 16/12/2015 07:49

Too hot here for jumpers today but I think it's a fashion thing too. My DD who likes to dress up has two, the boys who don't have none.

I have what I would call a tasteful version - fair isle style - but I wouldn't wear that on Christmas Day. That day we will dress up in smart dresses and I might even iron a shirt for the boys.

YouMakeMyDreams · 16/12/2015 07:51

I love my Christmas jumper dc love theirs. They are allowed to wear theirs instead of their school sweatshirts in December so get lots of wear out of them. They are wearing them to the Christmas parties and Cubs, guides etc. it's a bit of fun and I have a good group of friends that we swap sizes between when they are outgrown.

thecatsarecrazy · 16/12/2015 07:59

A woman at work yesterday said are you working. Friday? (I'm not) because we have to wear a Christmas jumper Hmm. They are raising money for charity but even so, even from Primark it would probably cost a tenner for one. I got in one day and was asked why I wasn't wearing Hawaiian clothes. Apparently EVERYONE had been told to. I hadn't and even if I had I'm not buying special clothes for work I have a uniform thankyou.

ssd · 16/12/2015 08:03

what I dont like about them is the fact that if you dont wear one you arent crazy and fun and up for a laugh GrinGrinGrin

annoying fuckers

StoptheRavelry · 16/12/2015 08:14

Our school is selling unwanted ones (I think) for a couple of quid, thus raising more money for the charity - then they have to wear one on Friday, and pay to do so,

I keep thinking, hang on - making people spend about 8 quid in a shop and then only giving a pound or two to the charity?

It doesn't make sense - what about giving the charity the full tenner? Would that not be more, erm, helpful?

We don't have any in the house and I agree it's stupid to buy a poorly made item which was probably manufactured in a sweatshop anyway, and will be worn for precisely one day per year, and then not fit the next year anyway...

We are going for the second hand option and if they don't have any he likes, we'll just send him in a normal jumper with a tinsel badge or something.

StoptheRavelry · 16/12/2015 08:15

I think they should just have a plain old mufti day. Every child (almost) will have non school uniform items of clothing that are reasonable. Many families won't be able to afford a Christmas jumper.

Swipe left for the next trending thread