Ugly Christmas socks

The ugly Christmas sweater has a well-established grammar — the fair isle band, the oversized reindeer, the deliberately clashing red and green — and sock designers have translated all of it faithfully onto a much smaller canvas.

The premium version of this genre is the sock that mimics an actual knitted jumper, complete with a ribbed cuff pretending to be a collar and, in the best cases, a small three-dimensional bobble or pom-pom attached to the front. Wearing a tiny sweater on each foot is a genuinely funny thing to do and it photographs well, which matters if these are for a party.

Buy in October or early November. These are seasonal production runs from small brands, not standing stock, and by mid-December the good pairs are gone and what's left is the sad end of the catalog.