The season is upon us. It’s not quite time for Christmas, but it’s definitely time for a good Christmas jumper. The cold weather means you’re allowed to be comfortable, the imminent festive season means you’re allowed to be tacky, and the fact that the best Christmas jumpers are cheap as chips from charity shops means you’re allowed to buy as many as you want.

If you don’t know what I mean by Christmas jumper, imagine something wooly, itchy, with a smiling reindeer’s face on the front. That is one end of the spectrum. This is the other end. The slightly ugly jumpers that indie kids like to dress up in an ironic way.

Indie kids, and me.

This little beauty became mine after I parted with the small sum of £4.99 in the Barnardos charity shop yesterday. My friend Biddy tried it on first and after deciding that she was too, ahem, top heavy for the oversized jumper look, passed it on to me. There was nothing about it that I didn’t love*. Big baggy jumper? Love. Tiny pearly things all over it? Love. Giving money to charity in the process? Love.

This is my old faithful Christmas jumper, which has seen me through one festive season already. This was from Bowes Vintage in Hull. It was more expensive than the other one, which is to be expected from a vintage shop. A slightly more flattering and fashionable shape than some jumpers, which is evened out by the shiny, gaudy pattern. This one elicits mixed reactions from people who see me wearing it, ranging from my friend Kerry who told me that it makes her incredibly happy to see me wearing it, to my sister Leila who just stared at me, puzzled, not understanding why I had chosen to spend money on such a horrible item.

* There was, actually, one thing that I didn’t love. The man in the shop crammed it into a tiny carrier bag, which then split while I was walking around the supermarket. Too big for a carrier bag? Not love. Not love at all.

So, Christmas jumpers: Yes or no?