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Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: The winners are here!
The winners of our first Ugly Holiday Sweater Photo Contest Jubilee were announced in the Chronicle Style section on Sunday. For the very small handful of you who don't also subscribe to the newspaper, I've included this elite group of hideous sweaters below as well.
Courtesy Caitlin Mullinix
Readers loved the cat pyramid.
Choosing the victorious was an excruciating task for Style section editor Laura Compton and me, mostly because of the incredible variety of the sweaters. In the end, we threw out complicated criteria and picked a winner that just felt right. Although in this case, we ended up changing the Reader's Choice award at the last minute, in part because of concern about a comments section riot if we didn't include the guy with the pyramid of cats on his sweater.
Please check the blog later this morning for the first Santa Tantrum Awards entries. I think that children were especially hateful of Christmas this years -- we received more than 100 entries -- but I'm still hoping to have the bulk of them up by the end of the work day.
Congratulations to the Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee winners! The winner and reader's choice awardee will be contacted soon about prizes, which include four tickets to this Thursday night's performance of Shrek: The Musical. It was a thoroughly successful first contest and we'll definitely do it again. Read More 'Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: The winners are here!' »
| December 27 2010 at 08:02 AM
UPDATED! Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: The final field is here!
Barring something amazing that comes in at the last minute, here is the field for our first Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee photo contest, co-sponsored by The Poop and the Chronicle's Style section.
Courtesy Javier Sanchez
A few thoughts about your entries ...
1. As someone already suggested in the comments, you know it's a great contest when half of the subjects being photographed have a drink in their hand.
2. I'm amazed at the number of linebacker-sized men who were able to fit into sweaters that were apparently bought in the Young Ladies section at Kohl's. Polyester knit fabric is an amazing thing.
3. Looking at these sweaters, I'm more worried than ever about the reproductive future of my generation. (Not much of a table setter, as one of my colleagues is fond of saying.)
4. This contest has also convinced me to run out and buy stock in the BeDazzler.
5. As it usually goes with these contests, the stories are often as good as the image. Thanks to everyone for having such a great sense of humor and holiday spirit.
Winners will be announced in this Sunday's Style section -- prizes include tickets to Shrek: The Musical as we mentioned here. We'll post the winners on The Poop as well.
Thanks again to everyone who entered! I was honestly expecting a few people in marginally tasteless sweaters like the one Colin Firth wore in "Bridget Jones's Diary." The hideousness of your holiday wear was beyond my wildest dreams. Read More 'UPDATED! Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: The final field is here!' »
| December 20 2010 at 04:10 PM
Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: An early contender and prize update
Courtesy JP Webb
I have been literally hitting myself in the face several times a day for the past week, angry that we didn't start an Ugly Holiday Sweater Photo Contest Jubilee four years ago. The entries we've received so far have been amazing.
We also got some good news on the prize front. Along with the typical DVD sets and video games we give away, two of the winners will receive four tickets to Shrek: The Musical, which my colleague Robert Hurwitt called "... a buoyant concoction of bright musical numbers, inspired design and enough clever fairy tale, inside-theater and fart jokes to please young and old alike" in his Little Man politely clapping review. Shrek plays at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco through Jan. 2. More information on this site.
The rules for the ugly sweater contest (which ends Dec. 20) are here. Winners will be included in the Dec. 26 Chronicle Style section.
In the meantime, please enjoy this early entry from JP, Stacey and Elodie Webb, who I totally want to party with. JP was the very first entrant, sending the above photo less than two hours after we announced the contest. Here's his e-mail: Read More 'Ugly Holiday Sweater Jubilee: An early contender and prize update' »
| December 14 2010 at 10:32 AM
Ugly Holiday Sweater Photo Contest Jubilee ... enter now!
Whenever possible, I try to write for the Chronicle's Style section. It's not my normal beat at the paper, but editor Laura Compton is very nice and the topics are always fun to write. I also appreciate that Laura never goes all fashion police on me, even though I cut my own hair and often wear what looks like a Member's Only jacket to work.
tvguide.com
Some cultures also call it a "jumper."
So when Laura suggested that we team up on an ugly holiday-themed sweater contest, I jumpered jumped at the opportunity. We've both seen a huge rise in interest on the topic, including multiple requests over the years in The Poop comments for a sweater contest. Sharing these photos also seemed like good group therapy for those of us who lived through the 1970s and 80s, when sweaters like these arrived each holiday by the half dozen once every kid hit puberty.
Are you on board yet? Then it's time to announce ...
The Poop/Style section's Ugly Holiday Sweater Photo Contest Jubilee 2010!
Why a jubilee? It just sounds like a word that someone who knits unattractive sweaters would use. The name may be long, but we'll try to keep the rules as simple as possible:
1. Send an image of yourself from the past or present, wearing an ugly or bizarre holiday-themed sweater, to phartlaub@sfchronicle.com. Put the words "Holiday Sweater" in the subject line. Read More 'Ugly Holiday Sweater Photo Contest Jubilee ... enter now!' »
| December 09 2010 at 02:20 PM
Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest IV ... the winners are here!
Seriously, I hate this part. Since we started the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest in 2007, the entries have been getting increasingly amazing, to the point where declaring winners seems like a ridiculous act. Do we really want to live in a world where someone makes Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen "Star Wars" costumes -- and doesn't even get an honorable mention?
Courtesy Alexandra Falk
Raise the roof, party pancakes. The winners are here!
Beyond the requirement that costumes be hand-made, the methodology is complicated. Yes, technical excellence does count. There's also a huge sympathy vote for costumes that were put together at the last minute. We reward costumes that we have never seen before. More than any other criteria, winning costumes are chosen because they just feel right.
The winners are below. Please don't hate me. I'm guessing that a lot of parents with costumes they slaved over for the past six months will be frustrated that they lost out to a kid wearing Fruit of the Looms on the outside of some red sweatpants. I understand if you need to quit The Poop for awhile -- just be sure to come back in time for our next contest, which will have a Thanksgiving theme and be announced shortly ...
All winners should send e-mails with their addresses to phartlaub@sfchronicle.com to begin an awarding-of-prizes process that if history repeats itself will stretch well into February. Honorable mentions do not receive prizes, but their parents can use this honor to pad their craftiness resumes. Here is the entire 2010 Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest field, which you should definitely check out if you haven't seen it yet.
Thanks to everyone who entered! Enjoy! Read More 'Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest IV ... the winners are here!' »
| November 09 2010 at 11:28 AM
Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest ... vote now!
Thanks for all of your Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest IV entries. The official field is below. Here's an explanation of the contest, which was started three years ago to reward parents and kids who reject store-bought costumes and make their own. Note that for the first time this year there's a GROUP CRAFTY division.* All of those are at the end.
Courtesy Josh and Darlene Bagley
Hoping this kid got a few Reese's Pieces ...
This is by far my favorite time of the year on The Poop. I'm blown away more and more each year by your craftiness. But as impressive as some of the more perfect costumes are, I appreciate the ones that have a flaw or two, but clearly have a ton of love put into them. (My favorite entries, skilled or not, are the ones where the kid is absolutely beaming with happiness.) Both will be rewarded when we announce winners early next week.
My apologies to those whose submission isn't here. I couldn't post all of the entries, partly because of time and partly because of various problems, most of which had nothing to do with you. Some of the photos wouldn't upload, some of them didn't meet the rules of the contest (I'll let you know when we have an adults-slutting-it-up costume contest -- you need a child in the photo to enter this one).
Please vote for your favorite below. You can give a shout out to your own kid if you absolutely can't help it but DO NOT get all of your friends and neighbors to engage in a commenting campaign on their behalf. It becomes really obvious to the rest of us, and probably won't change anything when it comes to deciding on a winner.
Thanks to everyone who entered! Enjoy the costumes and all the great stories ... Read More 'Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest ... vote now!' »
| November 04 2010 at 06:31 AM
Look for the costume contest entries tomorrow ...
Courtesy Hunter Swift
Brian Wilson says "I'm bigger than your costumes. Wait one more day."
Sorry I didn't post the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest entries today as promised. It became clear last night that they would get lost in the visual spectacle of the World Series victory parade and the election returns. (Plus, I spent a lot of my costume time writing my thank you note.)
Look for them first thing tomorrow morning!
| November 03 2010 at 05:02 PM
Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest: The first entries are here!
Late October is the most joyous and also the most stressful time of the blogging year for me. On one hand, the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest is our favorite audience participation event. It's very creative, always surprising and even most of the trolls seem to begrudgingly enjoy themselves.
Courtesy Ashley Ford
Loving his mom's craftiness.
On the other, so many of the handmade costumes are amazing that it's nearly impossible to pick winners. In the end, the judging feels almost arbitrary.
With that said, screw all of you. Below are the first entries in the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest, and they're better than ever. Great to see several entries in the group theme division. I was also happy to hear from multiple long-time The Poop readers who said they made their costumes in part because of the contest. I'll be adding more throughout the week -- check back often! Look for a full list of contestants on Monday and we'll announce the winners some time later next week.
For those who are new, the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest was created three years ago after a discussion on The Poop about the lost art of making costumes by hand among this generation of busy parents. The rules for the contest are here. In previous years, I haven't been able to post all of the entrants because of technical issues and sheer volume. But if yours doesn't get posted, feel free to send me a reminder at phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.
Thanks to everyone who has entered so far! Enjoy the craftiness!
Read More 'Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest: The first entries are here!' »| October 26 2010 at 10:46 AM
Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest: Group theme division
I received these photos from longtime The Poop reader Amy Alamar, who has been sewing her children's costumes since her first child was born. That first costume, created with help from her mother, was a pumpkin for her baby. From there, a tradition was born ...
Courtesy Amy Alamar
Amy writes: "Fast forward, one daughter, one son, three nephews, and one niece later ... The kids wanted 'Star Wars,' so we went 'Star Wars.' My mother had to sit this one out, but thank goodness my Aunt was in town and is very handy with altering patterns, because, while it may come as a surprise, they don't sell Chewbacca and R2D2 costume patterns."
"Now here's the kicker: My aunt goes back to DC and my curmudgeon of a brother-in-law who will never dress up pipes in, 'Ooh, make me an Emperor Costume.' So in addition to seven wee costumes (two not pictured because they live in LA) I made two XL ones (my husband and brother-in-law), mind you, the sleeves of the XL cloaks were larger than my 5 foot frame."
Amy said she and her mother usually start working on the costumes in August. My initial excitement in seeing these photos was the backmail potential: Amy's husband Ben and I have been in the same fantasy football league for five years. But after seeing Amy's excellent work (one more photo below), and enjoying Jill Tucker's family tradition, I see this as an opportunity: Starting this year, if we get enough entries, the Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest will be open to themed group photos. Read More 'Super-Crafty Halloween Costume Contest: Group theme division' »
| October 18 2010 at 04:42 PM
The five greatest Cosby sweaters of all time
When I think about popular culture in the first half of the 1980s, there are so many images to choose from. To name a few: New Wave, Swatch watches, Vans, Jeff Spicoli, Huey Lewis, "Ghostbusters" and New Coke. The second half is much, much less of a teal-colored jumbled mess. Really, when I think of that period between 1986 to 1990, only two words come to mind.
blogue.us
How amazing is our list? This sweater didn't even break the Top 5.
Cosby sweater.
I'm not sure if this is because nothing interesting was happening in late 1980s, or if the cosmic strength of the Cosby sweater rendered everything else from that time immemorable. Perhaps the comedian's sweaters worked like a black hole: Their pull was so incredibly powerful that no other culture could escape ...
After looking at several dozen different Cosby sweaters from the era, I'm going with the latter theory. I'm not sure who made sweaters for the "Fat Albert" creator, but my guess would be that everyone in the process -- from the designer to the factory workers to the sheep/alpaca providing the wool -- was taking LSD.
Below are the five greatest Cosby sweaters of all time. The choices were not limited to the ones he wore on "The Cosby Show," although I only chose a sweater if I could find photographic or video proof that Bill Cosby wore it at least once. (I'm reasonably certain he wore this one multiple time, but couldn't confirm it.)
Credit must be given to The Daily Contributor, which I discovered during my research process. Not only did they come up with the idea before me, but they named 10. Which is better than five. (And technically I only named four. You'll see ...)
Read More 'The five greatest Cosby sweaters of all time' »| October 11 2010 at 08:04 AM
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