Christmas , sometimes abbreviated as Xmas , is an aesthetic which celebrates the general idea of Christmas, the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. However, from the mid-19th century onwards, the aesthetic has distanced itself from strictly religious imagery, and the day is celebrated in a mostly non-religious way. The specific day is on December 25th in most places, but the imagery associated with the holiday appears from November to the end of December.

The visuals associated with Christmas originated from various cultural traditions throughout Western Europe and the United States. As globalization, immigration, and cultural sharing occur, the traditions have been assimilated to a more concrete idea of what is expected at Christmas. This is especially true with the popularity of Christmas-related movies, which communicate the spirit and visuals annually.

The holiday is highly anticipated, as the traditions are associated with nostalgia, goodwill, family, tradition, and happiness. However, as gift-giving is one of the largest traditions of the season, there is an incredible amount of commercialism present in the season, which is addressed in the criticism section.

The colors associated with Christmas are Red, Green, White, and Gold. Here is the meaning behind them:

However, in modern times, multiple colors are utilized.

The colors and visuals of Christmas are often used in decoration, furniture, interior design, stock photos/images, advertisement, media, and fashion.

Note : It's common to see Christmas substyles overlapping and mixing themselves to create more unique and specific styles, so it isn't possible to name every single one and some don't have enough information or evidence.

Here are some color schemes that are the most commonly utilized in products, interior design, advertisement, stock images and other media:

It's by far one of the most common color schemes of Christmas seen in most media out there. Its main notable characteristic is the over-abundance of the color Red on backgrounds, decorations, and ornaments. Color pairs like red and white/silver, red and green, and red and gold are very common in this substyle too.

The color green is the focus of this color scheme, but other colors of Christmas are also used as supporting colors, specially white and silver. Visual elements of Green Christmas are foliage, pine cones, holly, stars, bokeh, and snowflakes.

As the name suggests, it predominantly uses the color blue, especially dark and icy blue tones, as well as the colors silver, white, gold, and green. Common visual motifs are snowflakes, stars, bokeh, flourishes, and starry night skies. This color scheme overall emphasizes the "cold" aspect of the Christmas holiday.

The White substyle uses the colors white, silver, and green, as well as snow, snowflake, snowball, and snowman imagery to create a snowy effect to decorations, ornaments, and images.

It focuses on the colors gold and white, with the absolute lack of any red. This color scheme is sort of a crossover between Christmas and New Year's Eve, the latter which has a very similar color palette and visual motifs, as well as the inclusion of leftover Christmas decorations. Visual key features are the predominant use of the colors gold, white, silver, and green, stars, bokeh, sparkles, flourish patterns, foliage, golden leaves and flowers, and snowflakes. Wood (either painted or not) is used a lot on furniture and interior design in this substyle too.

Similar to the Golden color scheme, but it uses the color black in place of white. It gives a darker yet fancier and sophisticated feeling to it, that the usual Golden one doesn't have.

This is a hyperfeminine interpretation of the Christmas aesthetic, which arose in popularity in the early 2020s on TikTok and Pinterest. It is often closely associated with Coquette , particularly the substyles of Dollette and Winter Bimbo . The most commonly used colors are white, pastel pink, and pastel blue. Retro elements like aluminum (tinsel) Christmas trees are sometimes used. Pastel Christmas also has a distinct cutesy and childish element to it, similar to the Kawaii aesthetic.

Focused on the Winter aspect of Christmas that's commonly portrayed on the Northern Hemisphere. Instead of aiming to show the coziness of the interiors seen in Christmas and most of their substyles, Winter Christmas demonstrates the outdoors aspect of the holiday, focusing on Christmas lights/fairy lights, decorated trees, over-the-top decor, humble neighborhoods covered in snow, and wintry landscapes. This one is also known for alluding to nostalgia .

Because of the Southern Hemisphere having "opposite" seasons to the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas in those areas occurs in the Summer . Additionally, some fans of the holiday in the Northern Hemisphere have "Christmas in July." As such, the traditions and visuals associated with the wintertime, such as snowflake decorations, are ironic.

This is somewhat related to the Summer Christmas aesthetic, but includes Christmas ornaments that are specifically beach -related, such as seahorses, starfish, and sand-filled glass bulbs. Predominant colors include cream and aqua, sometimes with a touch of purple.

This aesthetic is influenced by British Christmas traditions from the Victorian Era – Christmas stockings with oranges, Christmas crackers, sleigh rides, kissing under mistletoe, going caroling, and trees decorated with cranberries and popcorn. Most of the things associated with Christmas today – such as Santa Claus, Christmas stockings, and gift giving – dates back to the Victorian times.

This is an aesthetic of nostalgia for Christmas of the past. This includes nostalgic images and designs. Nostalgia for Christmas is a timeless thing that every generation has but certain traditions and trends vary in different time periods.

This aesthetic often revolves around romance and Christmas Eve romantic events, though an understanding of Western Christmas exists in East Asia.

Many TV shows have a Christmas episode which airs during the month of December. See the TVTropes article on " Christmas Episode " for many examples.

Traditional Christmas music includes songs that there are many different covers/versions of. Many of them have Christian or winter themes. These include:

Modern Christmas music mainly includes songs that are associated with Christmas, despite not having Christian themes. These include:

Christmas is often criticized for the rampant commercialism associated. Rather than focusing on Christianity, family, and kindness, many critics claim that Christmas has become a holiday overly centered on shopping and capitalism.

Some more devout Christians also dislike the increased secularization of Christmas. In their perspective, emphasizing Santa Claus and festivities takes away from the origin of the holiday as Jesus Christ's birth.

Conversely, Christmas may also be alienating to non-Christians. Because of its ubiquity throughout Western culture, Christmas is expected to be celebrated by all citizens, with those not being able to relate to the traditions being seen as sad and unusual.