It’s not too late to deck yourself in ugly sweaters, fa la la la la la la la la

Once a fad, ugly holiday sweaters are now, like poinsettias, perennial features of the winter season.

If you’ve succumbed to the desire to serve as a living decoration or been gifted one of these more or less gaudy creations, you have at least one more chance to wear it this season: On Friday evening, Senior Services of South Sound is hosting Ugly Sweater Bingo.

If you haven’t succumbed, you’re still welcome to go play bingo, drink wine, beer and even holiday-themed Jell-O shots — and, of course, gawk at the sweater-clad.

Oly Bingo Night, which happens six times a year, is definitely not just for seniors, though you must be at least 21 to play. Not everyone comes in costume, of course, but dressing up is a big part of the fun for many of those who attend. The themes change with the seasons, but there’s always a costume contest.

At the first Ugly Sweater Bingo in 2014, Kelsey Smith, a librarian at Lacey Timberland Library, gave winning her best shot, teaming up with a couple of friends (one talented at sewing) to create their own sweaters.

“Mine was a drunk snowman leaning over a pile of vomit on the ground,” Smith told The Olympian. “Drunky the Snowman was holding a liquor bottle and had googly eyes.”

While Smith did score a bingo win that night, neither she nor her friends got the nod for ugliest sweater.

“We were no match for the cute elderly woman wearing a sweatshirt with bug-themed ’70s soft sculptures pinned to it,” Smith said. “She clearly won via the applause-o-meter.”

Ugly sweaters are everywhere this time of year. South Sound has seen ugly-sweater contests and ugly-sweater parties, and National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (Dec. 21) is a thing. (In fact, the day hijacked at least one local solstice party, where guests’ get-ups included a sweater with built-in flashing lights and another with a pocket to hold a beer can.)

The sweaters — once inspired by the one your aunt or grandma knitted — are these days available in a seemingly infinite variety of styles.

Some depict such seasonal standbys as trees, wreaths, snowflakes and/or reindeer, and some wish Jesus a happy birthday.

Some are the sartorial equivalent of the plywood scenes with a hole through which your face shows, transforming the wearer into a strangely small-bodied Santa or elf.

Others mix Christmas imagery with Darth Vader, dinosaurs, unicorns and former president Barack Obama. Then there’s “Mermanta,” who is, yes, a combination of Santa and a mermaid.

The themed sweaters aren’t always about Christmas, of course. There are Hanukkah ones (including one that invites, “Come on, baby, light my menorah”) and Halloween ones, and there are women of a certain age who have one for every occasion imaginable, plus ones decorated with cats, autumn leaves, etc., for non-occasions.

They aren’t always ugly (because, after all, you might want to look cute next time you’re invited to an ugly-sweater party). Town & Country Magazine devoted an article to pretty Christmas sweaters.

What’s more, they aren’t always sweaters. Lots of them are sweatshirts, including an elephant-printed one available at the Grand Cinema in Tacoma. Senior Services director Chris Quimby, who goes to bingo sans sweater because he spends the evening on the move, has his eye on an ugly Christmas T-shirt.

And if broadcasting the seasonal spirit on your upper body is insufficient, there’s the Christmas suit, which takes things to another level.

And taking it to another level is exactly what bingo caller and host Elizabeth Lord, well known around town as a storyteller, actor, director and producer, plans to do this year.

“I’m working on a whole sweater outfit,” she told The Olympian. “I’m making it from ugly sweaters.”

It’s part of her hostly duties to embrace the theme of each bingo night, she said. (Other themes include Rocky Horror at Halloween and rainbows in June.)

In 2014, she used a do-it-yourself kit to create an ugly “Ugly” sweater — decorated with the word as well as decorations and reindeer and everything else that the kit included.

“I thought it was appropriate as the host to do something overt,” she said.

If Lord works really hard to have the best outfit, some people manage it without even trying.

“There was a woman at our first Ugly Sweater Bingo, and her sweater was really ugly,” Quimby told The Olympian. “I said, ‘I have to compliment you on the ugliness of your sweater,’ and she said, ‘What are you talking about?’

“I just kind of shut my mouth.”

Ugly Sweater Bingo

• What: Senior Services for South Sound celebrates sweaters at its next bingo night. The bingo games, fundraisers for Senior Services, attract a mix of ages with not just bingo but also the humor of host Elizabeth Lord, as well as costume contests and a party atmosphere.
  
  
• When: 7 p.m. Friday; doors open and optional dinner begins at 6 p.m.
  
  
• Where: Olympia Senior Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia
  
  
• Cost: $15 for a pack of 10 cards for the evening’s regular games; $2 per card for special games, which have a higher payout; $5 for dinner. It’s open only to people 21 and older.
  
  
• Reservations: Accepted and recommended for groups of six or more; call 360-586-6181.
  
  
• More information: 360-586-6181, southsoundseniors.org/event/ugly-sweater-bingo/
  
  
• Also: The Olympia Senior Center hosts six Oly Bingo Nights per year, generally on the last Friday of every other month. The Lacey Senior Center, 6757 Pacific Ave. SE, Lacey, hosts three Lacey Bingo Nights a year.