It’s December, which means it's ugly sweater weather!

Do you have your ugly sweater ready? Will you wear it to a family dinner or the office holiday party? Why on earth did this happen in the first place? It seems no one really knows for sure; maybe elves or pom pom manufacturers are to blame, but once it started (somewhere around 2001), it had no sign of stopping with retailers in the US fueling the trend with an ever growing ugly supply.

There are game shows dedicated to the ugliest holiday sweater and segments on late night talk shows, and holiday movies usually include a scene or two with cringe worthy fashions. (Check out Bridget Jones’ Diary for a prime example). There are even books on the subject of course.

Some people are wearing them ironically and others may not even realize it’s a thing and just feel extra festive and fancy. We went digging through our Vogue Archive to see what we could pick out of fashion’s history for the ugliest sweater around.

Back then no one really used the term “ugly” so we suppose it’s up to us to debate who gets that honor.

Check out our Vogue Archive for yourself where you can search through 125 years of fashions some beautiful, some trendsetting, and yes, some just plain ugly!