You may notice something a little different at this year’s holiday potluck, or in other people’s festive photos, or in your favourite influencer’s Christmas reels.
Something a little nostalgic. Something a little snug. Something your mother may have worn while dishing cocktail meatballs onto paper plates circa 1992, or perhaps something your Grade 5 teacher donned while handing out cardboard antlers for that year’s class performance of Rudolph.
It’s the festive turtleneck, and apparently it’s back whether you want it or not.
The search terms “turtleneck” and “turtleneck outfit” are trending in Canada on Pinterest (especially among females age 18-24), fast-fashion staples Amazon, Shein and Temu boast Christmas turtleneck collections, and there are original ’90s Christmas turtlenecks up for grabs on Etsy, Ebay, and Poshmark — in all their embroidered holly glory.
“Felt like I was going through the birth canal again putting this on,” laughed Minnesota mom-fluencer Emily Vondy while trying on a thrifted turtleneck with an embroidered Santa on the neck in a video she posted last month with 1.7 million views.
“The staple underneath every holiday sweater,” she continued about the turtleneck, while pulling on a knitted vest to show her followers on Instagram and TikTok. Then she broke into into Christmas carols.
Vondy had just explained she’d driven to a thrift store in her hometown for its annual Christmas sale. Earlier, in her minivan, she explained she was specifically looking for Christmas sweaters, vests and turtlenecks. She then waited an hour and a half in line to purchase her haul.
According to her fans, the wait was worth it.
“It’s giving 90s mom vibes and I love it,” someone commented on Instagram video.
“I used to laugh at these when I was younger. I’m 44 now — I want ALL of this. This is my peri-menopausal couture,” wrote another fan on TikTok.
“Yess it’s giving Jamie Lee Curtis on Christmas with the Kranks. Love it,” commented another.
Why the turtleneck?
In the past two decades, ugly Christmas sweater parties have become a seasonal tradition around the world.
In fact, the ugly Christmas sweater has become so popular that environmentalists have pleaded with consumers to stop buying mass-manufactured versions each year, calling them one of the worst examples of fast fashion.
But if you’ve ever spent a holiday gathering packed in a room full of other people, or basting and re-basting a turkey, or chasing a handful of children, then you also know that ugly Christmas sweaters are hot and scratchy.
The two Vancouver men who helped popularize the ugly Christmas sweater party celebrate 20 years of the tacky, festive trend.
Plus, turtlenecks in general are trendy again, according to Men’s Journal magazine, which calls them “the biggest fashion flex of the holiday season.” IndiaToday calls them the key to having a “super-stylish winter” and notes that celebrities like Priyankra Chopra and Bella Hadid have been sporting the look.
And in a post last month, fashion website Who What Wear wrote that black turtleneck sweaters in winter are the “je ne sais quoi” that make French women “look sophisticated no matter what they wear.”
On top of that, thrifting has been surging in popularity in recent years, thanks in part to Gen. Z’s affinity for it. The global secondhand clothing market is projected to be worth $350 billion by 2027, according to a 2023 report by ThredUp.
That might explain why festive turtlenecks are a hot find this year. Amy Fowlow, a Value Village store manager in Calgary, told CBC News by email that her store has seen an uptick in customers, particularly Gen Z, searching for festive turtlenecks.
She described it as a “treasure hunt.”
“People like that they can find ones that are unique and one of a kind,” Fowlow said.
“I never thought I’d find it,” writes a Toronto thrifter alongside an Instagram video last week where she pulls a colourful turtleneck off a Value Village rack. In the background, Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree blasts merrily.
“Pretty sure I wore that turtleneck in the 1st Grade,” writes another thrifter on TikTok alongside a video of all the vintage tops she found last month. Her haul included a holly-patterned turtleneck that a commenter observed “goes hard.”
The nostalgia factor
And then, there’s the nostalgia factor. Everything 1990s and early 2000s seems cool again, from crew socks and baggy jeans, to Crocs and those skin-tight Juicy Couture track suits with the bedazzled butts.
And what’s more nostalgic ’90s than the Christmas turtleneck that every parental-type character seemed to don in festive movies and sitcoms from the era? Think of the 1988 Full House Christmas episode, for instance, where it appears nearly every member of the family is wearing a festive turtleneck/sweater combo. Santa, save us.
WATCH | Full House, where everyone wore a Christmas turtleneck:
It’s also undoubtedly a throwback mom look, as influencer Emily Vondy (who has five kids and another on the way), demonstrates in her viral video. And as parenting website Scary Mommy points out, ’90s moms had the right idea, since the turtlenecks were both cute (enough) and practical.
“I know you already have cute sweaters and cardigans and viral bow shoes. But look — Christmas takes a lot of WORK. And that work comes from moms,” the website notes.
“So wearing a fancy Christmas dress or a sweater with sleeves that keep falling down as you hang ornaments and roll out sugar cookie dough? It’s not happening.”
And even better, Scary Mommy adds, ’90s moms weren’t concerned about how they’d look on social media since it didn’t exist. The moms were just living in the moment. In their turtlenecks.
“There’s just something about a mom preparing to give her kids the happiest Christmas ever that demands a seasonal turtleneck.”