Our Favorite Ugly Christmas Sweater Brand Names

Since starting TheSweaterStore.com back in 2011, we have cataloged over 50,000 individual ugly Christmas sweaters from over 2,500 brands. Here are our favorite 26 brand names -- one from each letter

A - Adele - Unfortunately this brand has nothing to do with the singer. Sorry to disappoint you right at the start of the list.

B - Bravo - An appropriate name for what is truly one of the best sweater manufacturers in the history of ugly sweaters.

C - Casual Corner - There is no brand called "Business Casual Corner" or "Formal Corner". Lots of untapped potential in the corner market.

D - Duck Head - We have only come across one Duck Head brand sweatshirt. Yes, it featured a duck. Dressed as Santa Claus.

E - Essentials - Webster's dictionary defines the word essential as "of the utmost importance ". Maybe not the most appropriate name for a brand that makes ugly sweaters.

F - Family, Friends, Memories - We're going to pretend this brand is called "Family Friends' Memories" because it would be a lot more interesting.

G - Great American Sweater - Bold name for a sweater brand. Even bolder because the sweater we found was made in China.

H - Hot Cashews - Narrowly edged out "Hot Fudge" for our favorite "H" brand.

I - I'm A Plum - Nothing we could say here would be funnier than the fact that someone started a brand called "I'm A Plum".

J - Just Better Sweaters - Arch rival of the "Great American Sweater" brand.

K - Kathy Lee - Our lawyers recommended that we refrain from using this space to make a joke about Kathy Lee Gifford.

L - Love That Sweater - Love that this brand name is a very lazy attempt at subliminal marketing.

M - Miss Fancy Express - How could you not feel great about yourself while wearing a Miss Fancy Express sweater?

N - Nutcracker - We have cataloged 784 Nutcracker sweaters, making it one of our top 5 most popular Christmas sweater brands.

O - Opportunities - When opportunities knock, you'll want to be wearing Opportunities.

P - Private Party - Let this brand be a reminder that if no one shows up to your Christmas party that doesn't make it a failure. It makes it a private party.

Q - Quacker Factory - If you're not familiar with this legendary QVC sweater brand, do yourself a favor and search for it on YouTube.

R - Robert Bruce - There's nothing better than a man with two first names.

S - Shenanigans - Unrelated to the bar in Eau Claire WI.

T - Touchy Subject - A subtle reminder of all the awkward conversation topics to avoid at your next holiday gathering.

U - Ultra Sweats - Like regular sweats, but more ultra.

V - Victoria Jones - Prolific sweater designer Victoria Jones has contributed 575 sweaters to our inventory.

W - Work In Progress - We love this brand, because aren't we all just a work in progress?

X - Xtra Energy - We make no claims as to the effectiveness of the stimulant properties of this sweater as implied by the brand name.

Y - Young Stuff - A case of aspirational brand naming? We're pretty sure most original sweater buyers didn't qualify as "young".

Z - Zoodle - Like a zucchini noodle, in sweater form.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve surely heard about the ugly Christmas sweater trend. It started in the late 90s as a tacky take on the traditional holiday party. Christmas sweaters have been manufactured for decades. The first ugly Christmas sweater party was purportedly held by Chris Boyd and Jordan Birch in 2002. The party became an annual tradition, and by 2004 it outgrew its Vancouver house party origins and moved to the Highland Pub at Simon Fraser University. Popularity snowballed and in 2005, the party moved to the Commodore Ballroom, which accommodates 1,000 people. The trend has only grown since then, and each year thousands of ugly Christmas sweater parties are held across North America. With the increasing popularity of ugly sweater parties in recent years, many new websites have cropped up to cash in on the trend with mass produced sweaters. What makes Ragstock.com different? We started selling Ugly Christmas Sweaters online in 2011, when the trend was just taking off. Our goal has always been to help you find a truly unique, one-of-a-kind, vintage sweater.

When you buy a sweater from Ragstock.com, you can be sure that it has been lovingly passed down through the years: from it’s original home at QVC or a department store, to someone’s grandmother (who thought it was adorable), to an organization that accepts clothing donations, to our warehouse where we sort recycled clothing, and finally onto Ragstock.com, where it’s waiting for that special someone (maybe you?) to order it. Our inventory is comprised of over 10,000 vintage Ugly Christmas sweaters from 2,536 of the hottest brands (that’s not a typo). We are confident that our inventory contains at least one sweater from every brand that has ever manufactured ugly sweaters, from A La Carte and A Little Extra Spice to YS Studios and Zoodle. No, we haven’t heard of them either, but apparently they had some really great / terrible designers, depending on your perspective.

We separate our inventory into five distinct styles of sweaters. Each style has it’s own pros and cons, so it’s important to choose wisely.

Ugly Christmas sweatshirts: Popular in the late 80s and early 90s, Christmas sweatshirts are a lightweight alternative to the traditionally thick heavyweight knit Christmas sweater. Many of them feature fantastically kitschy screen prints. With 90s inspired looks currently at the forefront of the fashion world, Ugly Christmas sweatshirts are a great option if your goal is to look cute and on-trend at your holiday party.
Ugly Christmas vests: Love layering? Rock a vest over a long sleeve tee (or turtleneck!). Don’t love layering? Rock a vest anyway and charge your fellow partygoers admission for the “gun show”. The bottom line is that vests are very versatile. As a result, they’re also one of the most popular styles for our customers.
Ugly Christmas cardigans: Historically the most popular of all Christmas sweater styles, roughly 60% of our vintage sweaters are cardigans. With nearly 15,000 to choose from there’s bound to be a cardigan out there for you.
Ugly Christmas pullovers: When most people think of a sweater, they picture a pullover. While overshadowed by cardigans in sheer numbers, pullover sweaters may have the ugliest designs on average.
Ugly Christmas turtlenecks: An extravagantly ugly variation on the classic pullover, the turtleneck can be found in tight high neck and looser cowl neck varieties. We recommend both for only the most serious ugly sweater enthusiasts. They’re a surefire way to stand out from the crowd of standard neck sweater wearers and indicate that you’re not afraid to look silly while celebrating the holidays.

We’re vintage sweater advocates, but if the thought of wearing someone’s old sweater really makes you uncomfortable, we also offer brand new unworn sweaters and sweatshirts. They don’t have as much personality, but they’re still pretty cool. Our holiday sweatshirts feature beautiful screen printed designs available exclusively from Ragstock. Another benefit of ordering a new sweater or sweatshirt is that the sizing is much more straightforward. Our new sweaters and sweatshirts come in standard men’s / unisex sizes Small - XL . Our vintage sweaters are a mix of men’s and women’s sweaters from thousands of different brands, so although we list the tag size, the most accurate way to estimate the fit is to look at the measurements of each sweater and compare them to measurements of your own clothing. If you have any questions about finding the perfect sweater, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to help!

Don’t forget to buy your sweater for National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day, which is celebrated on December 15th this year. For more information, click here.

This page last updated on November 28 2019 (11/28/2019).