Best friends of over 10 years decide to randomly get ugly sweater photoshoot, instantly goes viral

You’ve seen the pictures, now here’s the story!

My best friend of over 10 years, Kailee, saw these awesome ugly sweaters while shopping at WalMart.

She FaceTimed me out of nowhere to tell me that we needed them, and being the person that I am, agreed instantly.

We originally discussed having a mutual friend of ours take a few fun pictures, just to help get us in the Christmas Spirit.

Our minds soon changed. We wanted awkward. We wanted ugly. We wanted 80’s. The big hair. The copious amounts of hairspray.

We wanted iconic Glamour Shots. So, we decided to schedule an appointment at our local JC Penney Portrait studio instead. (Yes, they are still a thing and yes, they’re still doing pictures.)

What started as something so simple that was just supposed to be for us, as a “just because” turned into something far more than either of us could ever imagine.

With the way this dumpster fire of a year has gone, and continues to go, we really were not feeling very Christmas-y at all.

Kailee being a single mom of three kids and myself currently going through a devastating divorce, it’s been a tough year to say the least.

However, little did we know these pictures would soon change everything. The actual photo session was the absolute most fun either of us have had in such a long time; so many laughs happened in that room! (15 out of 10, I highly recommend doing this with your BFF too.)

Our sweet photographer, Savannah, was also such a champ putting up with us! She worked her photography magic because the end results definitely did not disappoint. We could NOT stop laughing and we couldn’t wait to share them! We just knew the World needed to see these pictures.

After going viral on all social media platforms, the World has spoken and indeed proved that we were right. We are still in awe over it all, just completely mind blown.

Overwhelmed with joy from the support and the positive feedback we’ve received with ALLLLL of the shares and comments. (THANK YOU!!)

There’s already been so many re-creation pictures coming to light that we’ve been sent and tagged in, it’s truly amazing!

We’ve inspired people and given them their Christmas spirit back after one of the most challenging and toughest years of the century.

That alone is singlehandedly the best gift we could EVER receive! Wishing you all the happiest of holidays this year! 

About the Authors:
The story and photos above were submitted to Positive Outlooks by Paige Ann and Kailee Koch who have been bestfriends for over 10 years. If you wish to submit an essay (reflections on life), personal story (inspirational or humorous) or something that you witnessed that inspired you, please read submission guidelines.