To Find Christmas Jumpers Morally Abhorrent?

[MitziK]

Why has this become a thing? Spend twenty-plus quid so everybody can see you're 'doing it for charity', when what you are actually doing is spunking cash on something you will wear for between 1 and 5 days in a year before dumping it in the back of the wardrobe or binning it to buy another one next year?

People who can't afford that twenty pound feel under pressure/disapproval for 'not joining in, it's FOR CHARITY'. Somebody makes a hell of a lot of money for the jumpers and chucks a couple of quid at most to a charity. You've just given them TWO QUID, that's all. The seller still has eighteen quid of your money and you still look like a twat.

If somebody wants to do something for charity, wear your usual jumper, take that twenty quid you would have wasted on some synthetic monstrosity with bells or reindeer ears and buy some food to shove in the collection bins for the local foodbank, don't take fucking photos with all your mates wearing disposable jumpers, thinking you're Really Making a Difference.

They might only be on sale in November/December but that doesn't mean you can only wear them in those months. You don't have to buy new each year either if they still fit and are still wearable.

I bought my Xmas jumper 2 years ago and have been wearing it most nights on top of my pj top since it started getting cold in September because it's lovely and warm! I do this every year and don't buy new just because they're in the shops: I wear them until they are worn out.

My dc also wear their Xmas jumpers several times from November through to March, same as any of their other warm clothes. The youngest wears hand me downs from the eldest so they're used for a good 2-3 years before we get rid of them and, depending on their condition, either send them to the charity shop or put them in the clothing recycling bin.

If you're really against them, which is of course up to you, you can always embellish another, non-seasonal jumper with tinsel or baubles or whatever you have to hand for use on Xmas jumper day.

If you are angry about pointless waste I agree, if you are angry about being guilt tripped into charity, I agree. I don't think that people who want to wear a daft jumper and feel happy about being part of a charity day are morally abhorrent though. If the intention to do good is there then that's not a bad thing.
If people have to wear one for a work thing but either can't afford it or think it's morally abhorrent then just take an everyday sweater, get out the sewing kit/glue gun and the craft bag... Make your own and donate to the charity of your choice, recycled and morally superior in one fell swoop. 🌲😁

Fancy Dresses, sportswear, ski gloves, whatever, all only get occasional wear. That’s just in the nature of these things. Let it go

Yes but they don’t have National wear your ski suit to work days - or send your kids to school in a swimsuit day .... which is the point

It’s the pressure parents face having yet more expense so their kids fit in and don’t feel left out if they are too poor or have other priorities - like feeding them

I didn’t realise they was a charity must have? For school kids? I just pass them down the kids and if they aren’t thread bare sell them on or donate to charity shop when outgrown.

Who just dumps clothes nowadays? It’s just like any other item of clothes. Not legal to wonder around naked either so I can’t get in a froth about it. So much to stress and worry about as it is. Just donate your worn once jumper. Mine is about six years old.

I wear the same one every year, and often wear it through December to pantos/other Christmas stuff. The kids' were bought in the sales in supermarkets and wear them all year round . They're passed down between children as well.

We're also trying to start a Christmas jumper bring and buy thing at school so they can be easily recycled and everyone (hopefully) can afford to buy one, and a bit of additional cash can go to charity.

17,000,000 Christmas jumpers are sold each yr in the UK.
Just a fact I thought I'd put out there. My daughter's school did some math project. This was one of the subjects they covered.

Where I work, people just decorate an existing jumper with baubles, lights or tinsel. We have a jolly old time admiring people's handiwork on the day. Nowhere is there a rule that says you have to buy a special one. Thank God you don't work in my office OP, you sound like a misery guts looking for reasons to be grumpy!

@MitziK calm down. Secondly, are you suggesting @JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff ‘s family wear their fairisle jumpers all year round!? Summer too?
You wear a jumper when it’s cold, usually Nov-Apr - what’s your point?

If you don’t agree with cheapo, plastic wear-twice clothes (Xmas or otherwise) then don’t buy one. Instead purchase a seasonal jumper that can also be worn as a Christmas jumper, and for the winter season. Put it away till next winter.

Said by the person who capitalises all constituent parts of their user name.

Could have sworn it was a title/heading, which are generally capitalised in standard English usage, though - and I'm not doing it FOR CHARITY! LOOK AT MEEE!, in any case.

@MitziK I think the reason (certainly in my case) for title case (FYI) in usernames is so that you can easily read it, otherwise lowercase letters would blend into gobbledygook - I notice you’ve done the same thing anyway

I understand your point, but there are worse contenders: I would be much less likely to re-wear a Pudsey jumper or a witch costume or a WBD costume so don't buy those. I don't support expensive purchases in the name of charity when the donation is tiny, or 'forcing' people to [pay to] wear any of them.

I do, however, love Christmas jumpers (especially charity shop ones) and enjoy being able to wear them for work instead of 'uniform' come December.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/13/quarter-of-christmas-jumpers-were-worn-once-and-discarded-last-year

Yep, I agree with you.

All the people saying ‘I bought mine from a charity shop and wear it all year round’ - that’s great on your part, but it doesn’t change the overall picture.

Well said

I don't see why they're so bad. It's not as if Christmas doesn't come back every year. Whereas most fashion trends go out of style permanently after one or two seasons.

YANBU. PILs buy DD a new one every year, I think it's really wasteful to buy something only worn for a few days/weeks a year. In the past I've bought her a wintery jumper (e.g. fairisle) which is passable as an Xmas one so she can wear it all winter and for any Xmas jumper days at school etc. Also buy it a size too big so we can get 2 years out of it.

2 years ago got Aldi ones for me/DC1. She wore hers loads, except when she wasn't wearing any jumper, because she liked it. Replaced hers this year, already in use and very much doubt it will be allowed to be put away...

Mine gets less use but is still worn more often than some of my actual summer clothing (shorts!) because no one thinks it's unnecessary to have clothes that are only used on infrequent holidays or those rare occasions when it is too hot for anything else - some years they never even make it out of the loft!!!

I didn't buy mine for charity, I just like it. Although mine is a t-shirt that I wear for work because it makes me and my customers smile.

The charity shops around here have racks of Christmas jumpers, so if you buy one second hand the money goes to charity, then you where it on Christmas jumper day and more money goes to charity!! Win, win!!

And you're saving the environment by buying second hand.

• Yes but they don’t have National wear your ski suit to work days - or send your kids to school in a swimsuit day .... which is the point

It’s the pressure parents face having yet more expense so their kids fit in and don’t feel left out if they are too poor or have other priorities - like feeding them*

My kids school had "dress like ancient Egyptian/Roman/Greek/WW2 child " day and many had purchased costumes that were worn once. There were also things like buying clothing that matched the colour scheme of assemblies and plays , Children in Need, Sports Relief...... Not everyone has a spare plain top that can be sacrificed for decorating purposes. One of the great things about secondary school is the end of the need for finding dressing up day clothes.

I have a collection of Christmas t-shirts and I wear these from the end of November until mid January, and the one with pengins, realistic not cartoon ones, all year.

The thing I don't like about Christmas jumpers is that they're usually scratchy or expensive.

Man Who Has It All has this offering.

Responsibly sourced cotton and a message.

Love some of the T-shirts on that site too.

Well, OP, that is you told. People buy years old, holey, tatty Christmas knitwear from eBay and wear their jumpers even in June heatwaves for many years running. So they are virtuous and fun loving and you are just an old Grinch.

(But they still look hideous don’t they? You have to love a twit who will make themselves look awful while you look smart and attractive. That’s my take on it anyway. I am very grateful to the Christmas jumper army.)

If the point is a quarter of people wore them once and threw them away then that’s a good point, but as can be seen on this thread plenty of people wear them year after year.

Any one wearing an item once then binning, be it a skirt, dress, jumper, whatever is the issue.

I also agree with the school charity days, just make it Christmas themed, so a Santa hat from the pound shop, or a tinselled up hair bun from last years tree, or some images pinned to a jumper, something that can be as low budget as possible so the children can have fun and parents budgets aren’t broken.

I have several Christmas jumpers and a dress, I’ve just seen some me and dd like that I might get when I’m paid (this thread inspired me to look 😳). If they don’t wash up well mine go to dd who’s smaller and hers pass on to family, not that we’ve had to pass any of hers down. We’ve shared some for years now.

YANBU.

Yes yes yes, some people love Christmas jumpers and will happily wear them all winter until the jumper is threadbare, and get second hand ones and so on.

But the whole “Christmas Jumper Day” thing pressures people who don’t really want Christmas jumpers into buying them anyway, because it’s for some work / school charity day, or because they don’t want to feel left out.
And it’s wasteful to encourage people to buy clothes that are only going to be worn once or twice before they’re discarded.

Although, OP, instead of a charity Christmas Jumper Day, my DC’s school are doing a charity “Dress Like an Elf” day which is even worse.
Absolutely no one is going to wear an elf costume on an ordinary day. No one. It’s a ridiculous theme and Christmas Jumpers would have been so much better.

Oh look something else about Christmas for the judgy misery guts of Mumsnet to moan about.

I see your point. I quite like the designs...cheerful and so on but i don't like Christmas jumper days...forces people to buy one....not on.
It should be a choice.