{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='The more santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters, a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bcbbd8eafeecae12edb4' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bcbbd8eafeecae12edb4' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nThe more santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters, a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eHEADLINE: First Person: Teen makes big $ with ugly sweatersCAPTION:     The more Santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eHEADLINE: First Person: Teen makes big $ with ugly sweaters\u003cbr/\u003eCAPTION:     The more Santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters.  (Dec. 22)\u003cbr/\u003eKeyword-wacky-bizarre\u003cbr/\u003eWAUWATOSA, Wis _ First person: The more santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters _ a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.  They scour thrift stores and rummage sales year round to stock up. \u003cbr/\u003eSuggested caption:  First person: High School junior Jack McCarthy and his sister started a web site to sell as tacky and gaudy Christmas sweaters as they could find. \u003cbr/\u003eSupers are on there already. The story is moving early Friday. \u003cbr/\u003eAlso, there's at least one photo of this guy and his sweaters moving if you want to pull it for thumbnail.\u003cbr/\u003eA draft of the story is below: \u003cbr/\u003eOh, the sweater designs are frightful, but the parties are so delightful. So if you've got one to wear, let it show, let it show, let it show. \u003cbr/\u003eIf your grandmother ever gave you a cheesy holiday sweater that you never thought you'd wear, be grateful _ it's a hot fashion item now. Gaudy Christmas sweaters have become all the rage and ugly-Christmas-sweater parties are so popular that thrift stores and specialty retailers are making sure the kitschy clothing is in stock. \u003cbr/\u003eThe sweaters' popularity reflects a common fashion arc: Something trendy goes out of style, only to become cool again decades later. Some people speculate that loud sweaters also evoke fond memories of holidays past, while others say it's just an excuse to add holiday cheer. \u003cbr/\u003eEither way, when it comes to Christmas sweaters, uglier is better. Bright and mismatched colors are a plus, as are sequins, beads and fringes. But the clincher is graphics _ winter scenes so busy and intricate as to assault a viewer's senses. \u003cbr/\u003eEmily Bell knows ugly when she sees it. The 30-year-old from the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis was determined to win her friend's ugly-sweater contest. So she scoured thrift stores with one strategy: If a garment can be called tasteful, it's not good enough. \u003cbr/\u003eShe finally found a suitable ensemble. For under $10 she bought a blue blazer covered in oversized stars, trees and snowmen, along with a bright red sweater showing a Christmas tree trimmed with bulbous red ornaments. \u003cbr/\u003e\"Everyone was horrified and amused,\" Bell said of the partygoers, who awarded her the top prize. \"Either piece is ugly on its own, but there's no one on Earth who could see them together and find them anything but ugly.\" \u003cbr/\u003eRetailers have begun capitalizing on demand for ugly, with many developing promotions. \u003cbr/\u003eLisa Ritter, director of marketing for Goodwill in St. Paul, Minn., credited such a promotion for helping the thrift store's Twin Cities locations sell hundreds of ugly Christmas sweaters this year. \u003cbr/\u003e\"There's only one place that got a complaint, a store in a smaller community,\" she said. \"It was mostly people who were offended because we were making fun of a clothing item that they wear, and wear proudly.\" \u003cbr/\u003eUgly is certainly in the eye of the beholder. Even some retailers who sell ugly sweaters acknowledge that the garments have a certain charm. \u003cbr/\u003eJennifer Rogalin manages Ragstock, a specialty-clothing store in Madison. She said a lot of their holiday items are actually attractive, but so many people ask for ugly sweaters that the store now advertises them that way. \u003cbr/\u003e\"Sometimes I'll be helping someone who wants something ugly,\" she said. \"They'll pick one and I'll say, 'Oh, I thought that was cute.' And they'll say, 'Really? I thought it was hideous.'\" \u003cbr/\u003eRitter speculated that the ugly-sweater craze got a boost from social media, as more people tweet about ugly-sweater parties and post the pictures on Facebook. Indeed, \"ugly sweaters\" has been a popular trend on Twitter this week. \u003cbr/\u003eSome predict the movement will only get bigger. \u003cbr/\u003eClarissa Trujillo, 30, said her husband's company had an ugly-sweater party in 2007, but the couple couldn't find something sufficiently ugly in Chicago. So they launched UglySweaterStore.com the next year and business took off. Sales grew from about 500 sweaters in 2008 to more than 3,000 this year, Trujillo said. \u003cbr/\u003e\"I knew we were on the verge of a growing trend, but I can't tell you how insane it's been since then,\" she said. \"Ugly sweaters are huge.\" \u003cbr/\u003eSome can also be expensive. They average about $10 to $15 at Goodwill and $15 to $20 at Ragstock, while especially hard-to-find ones can cost about $45 online. \u003cbr/\u003eA pair of Milwaukee siblings has capitalized. Jack McCarthy, 17, launched UltimateUglyChristmas.com with his 22-year-old sister last month, and he expects to clear $5,000 in profit this year. They got their inventory by scavenging items from thrift stores and yard sales. \u003cbr/\u003e\"People just seem to love outdoing each other in ugliness,\" he said. \"The key is, you want something that's tacky in a good way. You don't want ugly like boring, you want something like a piece of art. Something that might look good if it weren't on a sweater. Like it might be a good Christmas decoration, but once you put it on yourself that's where it becomes ugly.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci 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They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters, a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cimg class=\"resource-img img-thumbnail img-responsive z-10 lp-boclips-thumbnail w-full h-full lozad\" alt=\"The more santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters, a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.\" title=\"The more santas, reindeer, snowflakes and bells on a sweater the better for high school junior Jack McCarthy and his sister. They started a web site to sell the ugliest of the ugly Christmas sweaters, a hot fashion item for those going to ugly-sweater parties.\" onError=\"handleImageNotLoadedError(this)\" data-default-image=\"https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/missing.png\" data-src=\"https://static.lp.lexp.cloud/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/missing.png\" width=\"315\" height=\"220\" src=\"data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAD/ACwAAAAAAQABAAACADs\" /\u003e\n\u003cspan aria-hidden='true' class='flex justify-center items-center bg-white rounded-full w-16 h-16 absolute top-1/2 left-1/2 -mt-8 -ml-8 cursor-pointer z-0 border-2 border-primary drop-shadow-md lp-boclips-thumbnail-playBtn'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fa-solid fa-play text-primary text-3xl ml-1 drop-shadow-xl'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n"}