從羣嘲到真香的聖誕醜毛衣

Move over twinkling fir trees and wreaths, eggnog, stockings and the office secret Santa -- there's a new kid in town. Over the last decade the ugly Christmas sweater has firmly embedded itself in yuletide culture.

閃閃發光的聖誕樹、聖誕花環、蛋酒、長襪和辦公室裏的祕密聖誕老人——如今又多了個新成員。過去十年來，聖誕醜毛衣已經深深根植於聖誕文化當中。

You know the one. It's a wooly pullover, usually in different shades of red, white and green, and with at least one Christmas-inspired motif on it -- a snowman, tinsel, a reindeer or candy canes. Extra points if it features 3D pom-pom or jingle bells.

你知道的，聖誕毛衣就是那種紅白綠的毛絨絨的套頭衫，毛衣上至少包含一種聖誕主題裝飾圖案：雪人、金屬亮片、馴鹿或柺杖糖。如果毛衣上有立體絨球或鈴鐺還能加分。

The garment has quickly become an essential part of the holidays, ubiquitous as Christmas lights and wrapping paper. It's obnoxious and tacky, but also fuzzy and kind of wholesome.

這種毛衣很快就成爲聖誕節的重要組成部分，和聖誕彩燈、包裝紙一樣無處不在。醜毛衣看起來討厭又俗氣，但是軟絨絨的有益身心。

It took some time for the UCS to find its place in the pantheon of Christmas fundamentals, however.

不過聖誕醜毛衣是花了好些年纔在聖誕節立住腳跟的。

Christmas-themed pullovers started making an appearance in the 1950s, a nod perhaps to the holiday's growing commercialization. Initially referred to as "Jingle Bell Sweaters," they weren't as garish as today's iterations, and found little popularity in the market.

聖誕主題套頭毛衣是在20世紀50年代開始出現的，也許是聖誕節商業化日益濃重的產物。最初被叫作“鈴鐺毛衣”，花色沒有現在的聖誕醜毛衣這般豔麗，在市場上也不受歡迎。

It wasn't until the 1980s that the item hit the mainstream. The shift came thanks to pop culture and comedies, with goofball dad characters like Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" turning the holiday sweater into an uncomely but endearing expression of cheer. Snowflake-emblazoned sweaters weren't considered cool, but they radiated yule, and were sported at office parties and on Christmas Day.

直到20世紀80年代，聖誕醜毛衣才成爲市場主流。這要感謝流行文化和喜劇，《瘋狂聖誕假期》中切維·切斯飾演的克拉克·格里斯沃爾德這樣的傻瓜老爹角色將聖誕醜毛衣轉變成了醜萌的歡樂源泉。用雪花裝飾的毛衣雖然不酷，但是充滿聖誕氣氛，辦公室派對和聖誕節都有人穿。

The resurgence didn't last long. In the 1990s the Christmas sweater faded in popularity; it was something only your unfashionable older relatives would ever think of wearing or gifting. By the turn of the new millennium, the item was widely considered an eyebrow-raising sartorial mishap.

這一復興潮流沒持續多久。20世紀90年代聖誕毛衣熱度退去，只有落伍的老年親戚纔會想穿這種毛衣或當禮物送人。到2000年左右，聖誕醜毛衣被普遍視爲一種令人側目的沒品衣着。

Think of 2001's "Bridget Jones's Diary," in which Colin Firth's Mark Darcy turns to greet Bridget (Renée Zellweger) at a family party wearing an unattractive knitted garment featuring a giant red-nosed reindeer. Bridget is horrified. So were you, probably, if you watched it in the cinema. But you probably also smiled. Such is the heartwarming power of the UCS.

想想2001年的《BJ單身日記》，影片中科林·費爾斯飾演的馬克·達西在家庭聚會中穿着一件繡着紅鼻子大馴鹿的醜毛衣和布麗吉特（蕾妮·齊薇格飾演）打招呼。布麗吉特大爲驚駭。你很可能也是這個反應，如果你在電影院看這部電影的話。不過你可能還笑了。這就是聖誕醜毛衣的暖心魅力。

The early 2000s also saw new life breathed into this now holiday staple. According to the "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Book: The Definitive Guide to Getting Your Ugly On," Christmas sweater parties started kicking off just around the time Bridget was recoiling at Darcy's outfit.

本世紀初，聖誕醜毛衣又煥發了新生。根據《聖誕醜毛衣派對手冊：穿上醜衣服的權威指南》，聖誕毛衣派對大約就是在布麗吉特因爲達西的毛衣而退避三舍時開始流行起來的。

The first so themed get-together took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2002, said Brian Miller, one of the book's authors and founder of online shop , in a phone interview. "It's hard to say what triggered the change in perspective, but I think that the moment someone wore the garment in a humorous way, people started seeing the comic side of it, and thinking 'this thing at the back of the closet could be fun, instead of something awful that nobody wants'," he said.

該書的作者之一、網店“聖誕醜毛衣派對”創始人布萊恩·米勒在一次電話訪談中稱，第一個聖誕毛衣派對於2002年在加拿大不列顛哥倫比亞省的溫哥華舉行。“很難說是什麼引發了人們對醜毛衣看法的改變，但我認爲在有人爲了幽默而穿上聖誕醜毛衣的那一刻起，人們開始看到這種毛衣喜感的一面，並認爲在衣櫃深處放一件醜毛衣會是挺好玩的一件事，而不再把醜毛衣看成沒人要的糟糕東西。”

The popularity of the ugly sweater snowballed from there.

從此以後，聖誕醜毛衣越來越流行。

Over the following decade, the festive knit evolved into "a new holiday tradition," as Miller described it. "It became our generation's mistletoe," he added. "Which is pretty remarkable, when you think about it."

根據米勒的描述，在接下來的十年內，聖誕醜毛衣演變成了“一種新的節日傳統”。他補充道：“它成了我們這一代人的槲寄生，想到這裏還是挺令人驚歎的。”

Fast-fashion giants like Topshop and high-end retailers like Nordstrom began filling their shelves and sites with gaudy designs each holiday season. Vintage stores and the Salvation Army capitalized on the trend by upping their stocks of fuzzy snowmen and dancing Santa pullovers. Even the fashion pack came around. In 2007, Stella McCartney released a polar bear-themed sweater. Givenchy followed in 2010.

Topshop等快時尚巨頭和諾德斯特龍百貨等高端零售商開始在每個聖誕季推出豔麗的設計。古董店和救世軍利用這股潮流增加了毛絨雪人和跳舞聖誕老人的套頭毛衣庫存。就連主流時尚品牌也開始吹復古風。2007年，斯特拉·麥卡特尼發佈了一款北極熊主題的毛衣。紀梵希也在2010年推出聖誕醜毛衣。

2012 was a turning point for the ugly sweater craze. UK charity Save the Children launched Christmas Jumper Day, a fundraising event encouraging people to don their most cringeworthy sweaters. British newspaper The Telegraph described the item as "this season's must-have," while the New York Times reported on ugly Christmas sweater-themed runs, pub crawls and specialized e-tailers booming across the States. Concurrently, the knits began showing more tinsel, bells and wacky details, reaching peak kitsch.

2012年是這股醜毛衣熱潮的轉折點。英國慈善機構“救救孩子”發起了“聖誕毛衣日”，這項籌款活動鼓勵人們捐出自己最尷尬的毛衣。英國《每日電訊報》將聖誕醜毛衣描述爲“本季必備”，《紐約時報》則對聖誕醜毛衣主題的跑步、串酒吧和美國遍地開花的定製電商進行了報道。與此同時，毛衣上的金屬亮片、鈴鐺和古怪細節越來越多，達到了俗氣的巔峯。

Celebrities, from Taylor Swift to Kanye West embraced the trend, too. Late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon even started running a regular segment called "12 Days of Christmas Sweaters," which still airs today.

從泰勒·斯威夫特到坎耶·維斯特等多位名人也投身這一潮流。深夜脫口秀主持人吉米·法倫甚至爲節目增加了一個名爲“聖誕毛衣12天”的固定環節，到今天還在播出。

If anything, the rise of social media has only heightened the 'It' status of the ugly sweater. Today, we compete to show off our Christmas-sweater love on Instagram, while anyone from mass retailer Target to fast food chain Red Lobster (whose UCS features a pocket to keep food warm), and more fashion houses offer their own versions of the garment.

在社交媒體的推波助瀾下，醜毛衣進一步坐穩了聖誕時尚單品的位子。如今我們爭相在Ins上秀出我們對聖誕毛衣的熱愛，從零售業龍頭Target到快餐零售商紅龍蝦（他們家的聖誕醜毛衣有一個能給食品保溫的口袋），還有更多時尚品牌都推出了自己的醜毛衣。

"When I attended my first Ugly Sweater Party in the early 2000s, I would have never anticipated the garment would take off like this," Miller said. "Although it's easy to see why: ugly knits can be worn by anyone -- from my daughter at her school's ugly sweater contest to office workers at their end of year party. They're democratic. And they're a lot of fun. Christmas can be quite stressful -- wearing something ridiculous can help take the pressure off."

米勒說：“我在2000年初期參加第一個醜毛衣派對時，我怎麼也想不到這種毛衣會火成這樣。不過原因也是顯而易見的：醜毛衣任何人都能穿——從穿着它參加學校醜毛衣比賽的我女兒，到參加年會的上班族。醜毛衣很大衆。醜毛衣也很有趣。在倍感壓力的聖誕季，穿可笑的衣服有助於減輕壓力。”