NOVELTY GARMENTS Sweaters let you take holiday feeling with you

To Mary Day, they're as much a part of the holiday as putting up the tree or baking cookies.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
CHARLOTTE, N.C -- Holiday-themed sweaters in the movies -- Colin Firth's reindeer and snowman pullovers in the "Bridget Jones" films come to mind -- may cause audiences to chuckle.
And the knit novelties may spark howls and snickers among fashionistas.
But Mary Day of Charlotte doesn't give a hoot.
The teacher simply grins while surveying her collection of holiday sweaters. In what others may snub as the fruitcake of fashion, she sees cheerfulness and beauty.
"Wearing these sweaters, it's a way to take that good holiday feeling with you," Day says. "Christmas makes me wonder, what if it were like this all the time? If people felt this way, if that feeling carried through the rest of the year. Just imagine."
She has about 20 different pieces to take her through all the seasons of the year. But her favorites are eight sweaters with Christmas themes and a few more with nonholiday, winter designs.
Inside and out
Day says she's always been "a Christmas person," who decorates inside and out the day after Thanksgiving. So it makes sense to wear clothing that shows her holiday spirit everywhere she goes.
"My mother made Christmas so special," she remembers. "I just love the hustle and bustle, the carols, the smell of cookies baking, the church services. It's like that song that says it's the most wonderful time of the year."
Until about 20 years ago, holiday and novelty sweaters weren't a mainstay among department stores' winter collections, said Betsy Thompson, fashion spokeswoman for the Talbots chain.
Upscale boutiques sold handmade sweaters with hefty price tags. But as garment manufacturing technology improved and machine-made designs became intricate enough to mimic handwork, Talbots and department stores took notice.
For several years now, the sweaters have been a featured part of Talbots' fall and winter collections, with prices ranging from about $80 to more than $125.
"We always have something for the customer who might be a collector," Thompson said. "A lot of people (who) like decorating their homes, also like to decorate their wardrobe, having something festive to wear for all seasons."
Day is surprised she's never "met herself" while wearing one of her sweaters, since most came from popular stores such as Hamrick's, Hecht's, Talbots and Stein Mart. Now, if she sees someone wearing a sweater she likes, she stops to ask where it was purchased.
Birth of a tradition
Her sweater-buying habit began 20 years ago when she was a new teacher. She found a red vest embroidered with candy canes, a Christmas tree and gifts. It was a splurge at $35, but she had a $5 off coupon.
It became a tradition to wear it in the weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year.
"As the designs kept getting prettier each year, I bought some more," she says. "Lots of people do holiday blouses or sweatshirts and T-shirts. I'm cold-natured, so sweaters are more my thing."
When her daughter, Melanie, was 3 years old, Day bought a set of matching sweaters for them to wear in the family Christmas photo.
Melanie, now 14, doesn't remember the cardigans her mother describes as having half of a Christmas tree on each side.
The teen's not exactly into dressing for the holidays anymore, but doesn't mind her mother's enthusiasm for it. She still goes Christmas shopping with her mother, despite knowing that angels, carolers or gingerbread people will be dancing across the older woman's torso.
"Nah, I'm not embarrassed. That's just my mom," Melanie says.
"I guess she's just glad that it's not a light-up (sweater) that plays music," says Mary Day, with a giggle.
Being a teacher may have encouraged her holiday sweater-buying habit, Day said. Her younger sister, Cathy Wiggins, is also a teacher from Charlotte, and has an even larger collection.
"We are kind of locked into the mindset of each season being significant," Day says. "We do fall leaves on the bulletin board, then pumpkins and turkeys then it's snowman time and, ooh, red hearts for Valentine's Day. The kids do notice when you're dressed for a holiday, so it's fun."
Many of Day's sweaters have a single motif on the back, a detail she looks for to entertain the kids while she's moving about the classroom.
She's become known for her collection at school. Friends and family members give her gift certificates for her October birthday so she can buy more sweaters.
"It's just like putting up the tree or baking cookies," she says. "It's part of what the holidays have come to be for our family."
All in the family
Day's daughter and husband, Walt, usually wear something seasonal for the family's annual Christmas photo. And the family's beagle gets in on the act, too.
"Cookie, he has reindeer antlers. We put them on every year and he tolerates it for just those five minutes. Then it's time to pack them up again for next year. Poor guy just doesn't see the fun in dressing for the holidays."