Seniors Wear Christmas Clothing the Entire Month of December

Photo by Andrew McKittrick

Many associate Christmastime with bell-and-glitter-adorned knitted tops. It’s become fashionable to find the tackiest sweater possible at local thrift stores or dug out from grandparents’ closets.

For seniors Corinne Stratton, Abby and Sally Sweeney, their newfound tradition of wearing Christmas-themed outfits in December has become a break from their final exams before winter break. Dressing in tacky holiday sweaters, vests and turtlenecks for 15 school days puts them in good spirits for the approaching holiday season.

Stratton says she has always had an affinity for the Christmas season. As soon as November draws to a close she can be found cuddling in her Santa Snuggie watching her favorite movie, “Elf”, and snacking on Christmas candy.

“The first time I went to a tacky Christmas sweater party I thought it was amazing,” Stratton said.

In their English class, Stratton pitched the idea of wearing Christmas sweaters throughout the month of December to Abby. Sally was reluctant to join the two at first, not wanting to spend money on new sweaters, but later decided it would make for a fun memory of their senior year.

“I drew pictures of all the sweaters I knew I already owned so I could figure out how many more I needed,” Stratton said. “Then Abby started asking friends about borrowing sweaters and we planned on going to Savers [thrift store] to buy more.”

While shopping, they found unique Christmas items such as turtlenecks with trees and denim shirts with Santas. Because of this, the three decided to create a calendar of “themed days” that they would coordinate their outfits around. Their calendar ranged from wearing all green and red, holiday accessories or wearing Christmas socks worn with Chacos.

“My favorite [theme] was definitely ‘Sockos’,” Abby said.” ‘Sockos’ are the term many use to describe Chacos worn with socks. “I always want to wear them but I never have an excuse to because it’s not necessarily acceptable.”

“People had a really positive reaction to [us dressing up],” Abby said. “It was nice not having to dress up for school and not having to look super nice.”

All three girls are attending Kansas State University next fall and plan on continuing this Christmas tradition in college. Stratton and the Sweeneys loved the excuse to dress “dorky” for school in outfits they wouldn’t normally wear.

“I’ve always wanted a tradition like an intense light display for my house, but I have a while until I’ll have [my own] house,” Stratton said. “For now I’ll let myself be the display to show my love for Christmas.”