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LISTEN:: Kiesel’s Christmas Sweaters

The Sweater Brigade
Kiesel’s Kristmas Sweater Brigade

[dropcap]LISTEN:: Nancy Kiesel tells her own story[/dropcap] (interview by Jesse Erickson)

They’re all the rage.  They’ve created competitions and they’ve been one of the most popular party themes. The desperate are paying hundreds to have one so that they could fit in. But, there’s one who hasn’t overpaid for an ugly sweater. One who has no problem fitting in. One who has enough of these now expensive and rare things to stay festive for an entire month. It’s Mrs. Kiesel and her infamous Christmas Sweaters. It’s safe to say that Christmas is Kiesel’s favorite time of the year.

Kiesel’s collection all began back in the late 80’s when her mother presented her with a special festive sweater on Christmas morning. From that Christmas on, sweaters under the Christmas tree became an everlasting tradition.

Not only does Kiesel own twelve different kinds of holiday sweaters, she has all items necessary to accessorize with the sweaters. Since sweaters can be itchy or not, it’s important to have outfit alternatives during the Christmas season.

“I have Christmas shirts, Christmas sweatshirts, and Christmas vests,” said Kiesel.

Among her twelve sweaters, Kiesel has her favorites and of course the one she would consider “the ugliest Christmas sweater.”

Her favorite sweater from Talbot’s looks simple at first, but looking further at the sweater, one can see that the sweater tells a story. On the bottom front of the sweater, Santa is wearing his hat. But as the progression of the sweater changes from the front to the back, Santa suddenly loses his hat in the cold, winter wind.

Kiesel’s strangest sweater, however, is a little more obvious about flaunting the Christmas spirit. Described as gaudy, Kiesel’s strangest sweater is bright red and has a decorated Christmas across the entire sweater.

Luckily, Kiesel was able to start her collection earlier than others. For the people who are a little late  jumping on the Christmas sweater bandwagon, the ride hasn’t been so easy. Even Kiesel who is a festive sweater addict admits that the stores just don’t make them anymore. But she still wears the one she has– no matter how old.

“I just like to wear these sweaters to get festive and it’s just really neat that I’ve inspired the students to wear the sweaters,” said Kiesel.

Inspiring the students, sweaters plastered with Santa, reindeer, and Christmas Trees covered the hallways the Friday before the holiday break. Some students began collecting the moment they met Kiesel.

“When I had Mrs. Kiesel for a teacher and saw that she had different sweaters throughout the year for different occasions, I decided that I needed some like hers to wear on the days I had her because she was my favorite teacher,”said senior Jayme Schledewitz.

Like Kiesel, and many other students, Schledewitz just likes being in the holiday spirit.

“Christmas sweaters are all so unique and you never see the same Christmas sweater twice,” added Schledewitz. “And I just like them because they have a lot of colors and things going on.”

Kiesel, who has four Christmas trees in her own house, will continue to spread holiday cheer with her festive sweaters throughout the rest of the school year.

Although Christmas is her favorite, Kiesel has sweaters for Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and just the overall winter season. For the rest of January, Kiesel will be sporting her snowy snowmen sweaters while her Christmas Trees and reindeer are put away until another chilly holiday.

As she graduates with the class of 2013, Kiesel and her Christmas sweaters will be greatly missed– but they will not be forgotten. She has left behind not only a trend, but a legacy.