Tacky Christmas sweaters

Who said Americans lack a sense of irony? They certainly have a sense of humour. One of the biggest Christmas hits this season is the ugly sweater party, where guests turn up the most horrible jerseys that they can find - the tackier, the better.

And if you can get a friend to dress up and go along with you - as in this photo - double bonus.

Even a heart throb like Colin Firth couldn’t make a tacky sweater look sexy. Bridget Jones saw him wearing a ludicrous jumper and then immediately discarded him from her list of potential suitors. It takes the whole book for the girl to come to her senses and realise that he didn’t choose the sweater and that he, actually, was a pretty nice guy.

Thank goodness we live in Africa. We may have crime galore, a recession that looks as if it will bite even deeper next year and a constantly changing political landscape but there is only so much fashion damage you can do in a T-shirt and flip-flops ...