In the Eye of the Beholder

There's been a lot of silly talk lately about colorful Christmas sweaters.  Some call them loud.  Others call them garish.  Still others call them ugly.  A good friend recently embellished her son's sweater to help him win an ugly sweater contest at a party.  Another close friend told of a similar ugly sweater contest that was part of her service club meeting.  Then, I read a newspaper article about colorful, loud holiday sweaters illustrated with loads of color photos to make their point.  Admittedly, I'm out of touch with the fashion scene so I maybe don't deserve to comment but I actually like those sweaters and fleece tops festooned with snowmen, trees, French horns, geese, Christmas ornaments, jingle bells and the like.  They seem to put the "merry" in "Merry Christmas," a perky touch to put a smile on your face during a dark time of the year.  Come to find out, according to the newspaper article, seasonal sweaters are now in vogue -- the louder, the better.  And "hip" people are proudly sporting them.  Perhaps I'm not as fashion-challenged as I thought.