Jayson Tatum hinted at the holidays with high-end, but lowkey Christmas sweater vibes
Tatum's sweater mixed tradition and innovation, adding much-needed spirit to a night that ended in a loss for the Celtics.
Probably the best part of the holidays, we like to indulge in all sorts of festivities and traditions that the season has to offer: decor, music, confections, shopping, family time, and parties. When it comes to fashion and clothing trends, few are as whimsical as the universally beloved ugly Christmas sweater.
Leave it to Jayson Tatum — who loves clean aesthetic and simple, elevated looks — to evoke a festive concept and turn it into a high-fashion statement worthy of Thursday night’s “Ford Fit” worn ahead of the first matchup of a doubleheader against the Bulls.
Does this count as an ugly sweater? Does this count as a Christmas sweater? As viewers, we get to interpret the fashion choices of these players and consider what story, if any at all, might they be telling with the brands they represent and the designs they show off when they walk the tunnel.
Tatum took to the runway wearing a Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY Scots Wolf sweater. The graphic knit, which featured a rendering of a wolf wearing bright green socks that contrasted with red accents from the wolf’s tongue and bloody claws, sort of suggested the playful spirit of the ugly Christmas sweater tradition. But the grey background and edgy design helped Tatum maintain his signature understated style.
While Tatum might do trendy, colorful, or even cheeky, rarely (if ever) does he do tacky. Here, Tatum did avant-garde playfulness, which LOVERBOY baked into its design point of view — punk eccentricity with hints of gamer influence.
“Growing up, I always drew,” Charles Jeffrey explained in an interview with Greenwich Peninsula. “Mostly it was cartoons and weird surreal animals — a lot of the things that I still love to draw now. I wanted to be a videogame designer, and a lot of those ideals still live on in my work,” Jeffrey said, which is apparent within many of the designer’s collections.
With its abstract design and dynamic patterns, Tatum made a statement that was festive but not necessarily kitschy, and aligned with the style of the ugly Christmas sweater. There was red. There was green. There was an animal depicted on front, much like the popular capybara, which can be purchased in the form of a Christmas sweater, like this one from GameStop.
At this point, everyone knows the lore of the ugly Christmas sweater. Once only a quirky hallmark of gatherings and parties, they have ascended to cultural phenomenon status. According to CNN, the trend surged in the early 2000s and has since evolved from tacky joke to fashion moment. Tatum’s choice captures this evolution, blending the tradition’s over-the-top energy with LOVERBOY’s ethos of self-expression and individuality.
Dressing for the holidays treads a fine line between fun and wearable. As the New York Times recently noted in a guide to office party fashion, the key is striking a balance: Adding just enough to feel celebratory without sacrificing sophistication. Tatum’s outfit achieves that, whether or not he intentionally dressed seasonally. His sweater brought seasonal vibes, while his jeans and iconic Timberlands — invented right here in Massachusetts, by the way — kept the look polished.
So, whether you see a high-fashion riff on the ugly Christmas sweater … or you see nothing except him literally just wearing a sweater to work (and, therefore, nothing to write home about), one thing is clear: Tatum’s style inspires creativity and shows off his personality, which is the fun and enjoyment of fashion.
Additionally, Tatum’s choice sweater demonstrated that tradition and innovation can coexist and that a fun festive flair doesn’t hurt — and perhaps added to the much-needed spirit of the night (at times rowdy during in the fourth) given Celtics’ loss to the Bulls, 117-108.
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