Stylish menswear alternatives to the Christmas jumper

Giving Santa, Frosty and Rudolph the elbow on your knitwear doesn’t make you a grinch

Sunday 17 December 2017 14:57 EST

Enfield Colour Block Jumper, £120, Reiss

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Despite having a rather bad rep in the style stakes, Christmas jumpers have seen a revival in recent years to become a mainstream seasonal staple.

So much so that if you were to scour any bar or pub in the coming week, chances are you’ll see packs of grown men sporting novelty knits not too dissimilar to the one Colin Firth sported in the 2001 film Bridget Jones’ Diary.

But if style – and let’s be honest, dignity – matters to you at all, this kind of substandard festive-themed knit is a serious no-go.

That’s not to say you should forego eye-catching knitwear altogether though, because luckily there are plenty of brands that tailor to men who want to look great and embrace the spirit of Christmas, albeit in a far more subtle fashion.

The key here, unsurprisingly, is to avoid anything with flashing lights, 3D embellishment and questionable delineations of snowmen.

Instead, this time round you should be embracing cool patterns that are as subtle as they are desirable.

J.Crew, Alta Fair Isle Wool Sweater, £100, Mr Porter

For the discernable gent, this means opting for Fair Isle prints, Nordic knits and super-comfy cashmere that will look just as good teamed with jeans as a pair of tailored trousers.

An excellent alternative, bold stripes are indisputably stylish and still manage to retain that sense of cheer that effective Christmas jumpers so heavily rely on.

Otherwise, blocks of colour, geometric prints and unlikely animal designs like Coach’s famous dino Rexy are also a great option.

Simply adhere to this advice and you should find that, as well as retaining your self-respect, you should also gain a festive jumper that won’t be immediately consigned to the back of your wardrobe come Boxing Day.