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.

I have one bought from primark worn it for about 4 years so far ,

My Ds had one off eBay last year slightly on the large size so he can wear it this year .

I would say Halloween costumes are worse Hense why my ds’s has been 2 small for a couple of years

@Lilyflower1 you are my new favourite poster!

I would argue that christmas jumper days encourage fast fashion, when primary schools do Christmas jumper day, most children have outgrown last year's jumper and thus need a new (to them) one. I work FT, have two dc with ASD (for whom christmas jumper days cause huge anxiety!! You know, because it's different, a change to the routine) and weekends are taken up with activities, family, friends etc- I don't have time to trudge around charity shops looking for a jumper in age 9 or whatever. Meaning that other parents in similar positions will just pop to the 24hour Tesco and buy one.

I won't. Again, this causes my children huge amounts of anxiety- one because she won't fit in if she doesn't have a jumper, and one because buying a single use item of clothing is wasteful and damages the environment and he gets hugely upset about that.

And I shall whisper it v quietly... but Christmas Jumpers are just another consumerist American import like elf on the shelf, black Friday, and oo-err hallowe'en

Our local school collects donated ones and resells them second hand for charity - that’s awesome. Everyone can have a new one when they get bored or grow out of theirs.

Personally I wear a slightly ott fairisle on “Xmas jumper” day because I like the excuse to pretend I’m whatsername from the killing - sara Lund.

Oh give over, it's a bit of fun. Yes it costs money but then most things do. And if we only did things that were free lots of things wouldn't happen. You can Christmas jumpers in charity shops or on eBay. Stop being a grinch.

Dontsweat I went on the £5 website and now I'm intrigued. I can't work out if this is supposed to be Jesus or Russell Brand?

YANBU and YABU.

The whole concept of fast fashion and disposable clothing is morally abhorrent, so while it's bad that a lot of Christmas jumpers are only worn once*, there are people who treat all their clothing in that way, who shop every week and only wear things once or twice before binning them, because the items are so cheap and the quality so low, that they aren't durable enough to wash well and last, donate to charity or resell. That's who your anger should be directed towards.

• But I don't believe that most people treat their Christmas jumpers as disposable. Adults will wear them multiple years. DC will wear hand me downs, or from charity shops, or have swap events at schools. If you're not a person who treats their clothes as disposable, you won't suddenly start doing this for your Christmas jumper.

I wish I'd realised that this would become a thing, as I would have spent more on a nice Christmas jumper the first year it happened, which has got to be 6 or more years ago. Because I'm still wearing the nasty Matalan horror that I bought the first time round when I could have been wearing a nice one instead.

I've never met anyone who has worn an Xmas jumper outside of the charity day and Xmas day! YANBU, OP. It's just another nod to crazy consumerism.

YABU. The charity shops are full of them for a couple of quid. My kids wear them for the whole of December which is pretty much the same as any jumper that gets worn for the coldest month of the year. Then they pass them on to someone smaller. We’ve been given several from bigger people.
I got mine for 1.99 in a charity shop three years ago.
It’s just a jumper. It’s just fun.

I have no issues with Christmas jumper per-se.

If you are talking about 'Christmas Jumper Day' for charity then I agree 100%. You end up giving £2 (or whatever) to charity and many people have to buy a jumper specially. It's financially non-nonsensical.

I bought a primark one 7 years ago for around £10 and because I only wear it about twice a year, it's still in perfect condition!
I have four dc and I'll admit, the first year I was furious at the outlay of the money but now I just hand them down and the oldest got a new one bought in the January sales (not helpful at this point, I know!) so it's there ready and the total cost was £5, give or take.
Primark actually had a lovely Christmas dress for £3.99 which I'll admit I treated dc4 to this year.
And I have collected a few Christmas jumpers since the first 7 years ago, but I do enjoy wearing them and I haven't changed sizes so 🤷🏽‍♀️
Home bargains do good Christmas jumpers at around £7.99 too.

Yanbu. Why does objecting to cheap and unnecessary fast fashion make us Grinches? Surely it makes us the opposite?

Cheap disposable fashion is a terrible idea for reasons that surely don't still need debating - unless it involves Christmas, then it's ok.

I got dc1s Christmas jumper from H&M last year, if I remember correctly I actually got it just before Christmas but it was substantially reduced. Worth a look if anyone is struggling to find one.

I've seen the same sort of behaviour on "costume" days at school where parents buy a costume for the one day, and it's never worn again (granted in some cases it's passed on to another child).
I feel the same as you.
It's why my school got rid of costumes for World Book Day (we only did it for KS3) and we got rid of Christmas jumper day too. The head made the decision that those sorts of things create needless financial pressure for parents and don't add to learning.

Some people grumbled but I think the head was right.

I think Xmas jumpers are beyond tragic, not cos they're worn once a year but because they seem to say "look at me, I'm so fun!!"

What's cute on a kid is tragic on an adult.

What, people only wear their Christmas jumpers at Christmas?

Mine are year-long leisurewear. Gives the postie a good laugh when I open the door in June wearing it.

I have 2 Xmas jumpers and have had 1 for 6 years and i bought the 2nd last Xmas. I live in these jumpers from mid Nov until it stops being jumper weather, along with my other jumpers.
They are not too way out there- so not bright red with Father Christmas all over them but similar to my usual jumper choice. Grey one with a reindeer/stag head on the front in muted colours and the other with mistletoe embroidered on the front.

I guess I would be less likely to wear a red sent a one beyond Xmas but you can choose something more subtle and wear beyond the Xmas season.

If you want bright Santa ones then recycle and go to A charity shop. There is always plenty of choice of Xmas jumpers available 2nd hand which is ideal for kids that won't fit last year's Xmas jumper.

It's just a jumper, it's just a bit of fun, judgy misery guts, brings some cheer.....

The consumerist aspect is just horrendous. Despite what everyone on MN says, the cheap fast fashion shops are full of nasty, cheaply produced, 100% plastic jumpers. People buy them because they feel they have to, then discover that actually walking around with a plastic jumper on is hot and impractical.

If you want one, fine. But schools, offices and other places should not be demanding/encouraging people have a jumper to show their charitable nature. It's totally counter intuitive.

I saw a children's jumper in Next a couple of years ago that said "My First Christmas 2017" or similar (I mean it had the year on it). Couldn't believe they were being so blatant about producing a throwaway garment that couldn't be passed down.

I find disposable fashion abhorrent, and whilst I understand that many reuse theirs from year to year a lot don't, and it supports retailers who peddle disposable fashion.

I also do not like plastic-based artificial fibres because of the microplastics released into the water system during washing cycles. And, in all the years I've looked at Christmas jumpers I've never found one that isn't made at least in part from artificial fibre.

Yanbu. Why does objecting to cheap and unnecessary fast fashion make us Grinches? Surely it makes us the opposite?

My colleague buys a 'new' jumper from a charity shop every year, donates to the Christmas Jumper fund, then redonates the jumper in January.

The charity wins three times, and nothing is wasted. I bought my Christmas Jumper years ago in a charity shop for a fiver.

There's ways to join in and not waste!

Oh and according to Wikipedia, Save the Children started this "day" in 2012.

Encouraging short wear tat buying is never good. But if you’re up for a jumper for life situation then that’s a bit different.

At DD's primary we added Christmas jumpers to the New to You Sale.

Proceeds of the sales of the jumpers always went to the school's chosen charities (usually a children's hospice and the local foodbank).

I think that's a great idea.

I agree to some extent. However I don’t know anyone who would be daft enough to buy a new one every year and wear it once!
I have one that someone bought for me around 8 years ago. I probably wear is 5/6 times throughout December every year.
The DC have Christmas jumper day, and in the weeks up to it the PTA Facebook page is awash with parents from the school handing down/swapping/selling second hand jumpers. I’ve never bought them a brand new one, and they get plenty of wear out of them before handing down again.
The type of people who buy a new one every year are probably the type of people who are wasteful in other walks of life too, so the issue won’t be confined to Christmas jumpers.