Seventeen-year-old Jack McCarthy loves ugly Christmas sweaters. This Marquette University High School junior has made some serious bank by selling the offending articles online via his cheeky website ultimateuglychristmas.com. I received an email from him recently congratulating me on an article I wrote last year called “Ho, ho, hideous” all about the tacky holiday confections that he gleefully peddles. I was intrigued that this lifelong Wauwatosa dude was a purveyor of putrid yuletide apparel, so I had to find out more with a quick Q&A.
What started your connection with ugly Christmas sweaters?
My sister had a sweater for a 5k run that was very big and 3D so when she came home for Christmas Break (she was in college, she is currently out of college and living in St. Paul, Minnesota) she wanted to get the hideous thing out of her closet. I helped her put it on eBay and it sold for $35 with the bidder paying an addition $25 to get it shipped overnight, and this was after Christmas (around January 1st-3rd).
How did you come up with the concept for the website?
Realizing the market opportunity after that first experience, I bought a few the following year and sold those on eBay. I made some money and it turned out to really work. Last year I created the website and sold about 80. This year I’m growing even more and already surpassed last year’s numbers.
Where do the sweaters come from?
They come from various thrift stores across the area (as far as Racine). I’ll go to about 5 in a weekend or so.
What are your favorite ugly Christmas sweaters and why?
My favorite ugly Christmas Sweater is a tree that actually lights up. That added feature just made it so much more unique and even more of a statement. I love other sweaters that are just crammed with gaudy Christmas decorations. The more, the better, in my book. That could include plenty of colors that don’t go together, 3D objects, sparkles, beads, etc.
What are the qualifications for designating a sweater “ugly”? What are the criteria? Color? Design? Proportion? Bad taste? Or what?
A sweater is “ugly” when it looks more like a piece of art than a sweater. It has to have so much going on that you find it crazy for it to really be considered a sweater design. They come in plenty of colors. Designs vary from Santa to snowmen, elves to reindeer, and Christmas trees to presents, but as long as it is overly done with Christmas decorations, it fits “ugly.”
How long have you been in business?
This is the 2nd year of having a website and 4th year selling at least one Christmas sweater.
What happens after Christmas, or is this mostly a seasonal thing? Do you collect sweaters year round?
Like a teddy bear on a tacky sweater, our company hibernates when it starts to get cold around January. I keep my eyes out for ugly Christmas sweaters at yard sales (got only about two this summer) but wait until around Thanksgiving to really start collecting.
What is your future plan?
I plan on going to either UW-Madison or Notre Dame, in the business school. I plan on being an entrepreneur and starting an actual business.
Well it seems to me as if Mr. McCarthy already has one. If you’re in need of some super-tacky Christmas apparel that has been hand selected by a local with an eye for the ugly, check out his site and give the guy some business. Reduce, reuse, and recycle in this case, means giving a second life to some god-awful garment in need. Ah, the Christmas spirit is alive, well, and helping to put a savvy guy through college!
