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The Christmas pudding is the only dessert in Britain that is routinely set on fire and then not eaten, and it has earned its place on the front of a jumper precisely because of that beautiful absurdity. It is also, visually, a gift: a brown dome, a white drip of brandy sauce, a sprig of holly. You can read it at thirty paces and nobody needs it explaining.
The best pudding jumpers go three-dimensional. A padded, slightly bulging pudding appliqued to the front of a knit is one of the great sights of December, and some of them come with a holly sprig that stands proud of the fabric. Others go the slogan route – a pudding with a face, a pudding wearing a hat, or a pudding under the words that explain exactly how you feel about Christmas dinner.
It is a particularly good design for anybody who wants to be obviously festive without being tied to Santa, snow or reindeer. Puddings are cheerful, slightly ridiculous and entirely uncontroversial, and a pudding jumper has never once started an argument at a family dinner. Have a browse – there are more of them here than you would expect, and the three-dimensional ones are worth the extra.