How About An Ugly Sweater For Christmas?

NOVI (WWJ) - It's a trend that's been sweeping the country each holiday season -- wearing the most hideous sweater you can find.

"For hipsters, it was their thing a couple of years ago," Fred Hajjar of West Bloomfield said. "Now everybody loves them. Traffic on Google, for instance, has tripled for searches for ugly Christmas sweaters in the past two years."

Some are even hosting Ugly Sweater Christmas parties, pub crawls and Fun Runs.

Hajjar sells T-shirts and costumes throughout the year and decided to cash in. The sweaters are a little of both, he said. For a third season, he has a kiosk to sell hideous sweaters at 12 Oaks Mall in Novi and another at the Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills.

There is the black one with the green and red wreaths that light up, the one with the big Santa face with the feet that hang out of the bottom and the so-called "3D shirt," which features a plush reindeer head that is attached with Velcro to the front, with the reindeer tail end attached to the back.

"I think the goal is for people to actually notice you," Hajjar said. Business, he said, is good.

One of Hajjar's most popular shirts is the Lions' version. It's Honolulu blue and silver, with Christmas trees, snowflakes, and of course, Lions.

It caught the eye of shopper Lenny Gittleman. "It's in the eyes of the beholder," said Gittleman. "Anything with the Lions on it is good." The sweaters went over well with nearly all the shoppers. Except for one.

"It doesn't look good," Curtis James Collins of Southfield said. "I wouldn't wear it." In fact, Collins said, you couldn't pay him.

The sweaters retail from $25 to $60. For more information you can visit UglyChristmasSweater.com