4 Questions For....Hip Wa Zee

If Hip Wa Zee on Harden Street is my mini-museum of 20th century fashion, then co-owner Kellie Rego is one of its curators.  As for shaping the city's fashion sensibility, she surely deserves credit for making our look more fun every day--and her store is a top source for costumes at every season. Above, you see the Hip Wa Zee family in their Christmas sweaters. That's Ms. Rego in the bottom right corner and below, looking quite pretty in yet another Christmas sweater.

Ms. Rego (or do I risk being fresh and call her Kellie?) shops for these sweaters all year in order to stock the store with hundreds and hundreds of them. I stopped by to chat with her when I was researching the status of "ugly Christmas sweaters," and she answered my 4 Questions (and without once rolling her eyes, the dear):

1. What qualities make a Christmas sweater Hip Wa Zee worthy?
Bells, three dimensional characters, sparkle and timeless spirit.

2. I’d thought Christmas sweater parties might be a passing fancy. Perhaps I was wrong. Where is Columbia in this craze? Has the trend peaked?
That's  one trend Columbia is definitely into. It's surprisingly irresistible, contagious even. You see your friends in what looks like a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and you just want to join in...dressed like Cousin Eddie, of course. Dickie and all. No, I can't see the peak from here.

3. On what occasion might you wear a Christmas sweater non-ironically?
Non-ironically? What do you mean?

4. I overheard a lady insist that snowman sweaters are more practical than Santa sweaters, because one might wear a snowman sweater all winter long. Thoughts?
Hmm, Santa vs Frosty. Tough call. I can see her point but for some reason that just brought to mind my favorite type of snow globe from Florida, a melted snow man. Now that's a sweater I'd like to see!

You'll find more of my musings about the Christmas sweater here.  Perhaps that's as enticing as  finding lumps of coal in the old stocking--so let me throw in that you'll also find more amusing sweater photos there, as well.

And I'm a bit curious about you, dear reader. Will you be wearing a Christmas sweater? And what's your stand on the snowman-sweater-after-Christmas proposition?

PS: I discovered this article in The Wall Street Journal about ugly Christmas sweaters. They claim to have identified something new this year.... an oddball trend.