I am Christmas there are just 26 days left until Brits can rock out in their best Christmas jumpers.
For many people, these festive clothes are a rare item that ends up in the closet when January rolls around.
However, some are so obsessed with their jumps that they actually get sexual pleasure and stimulation from wearing them.
This is according to Dr Mark Griffiths, an expert in Behavioral Addiction at Nottingham Trent University, who has detailed the ‘fur magic’ in his new book, Sexual Perversions and Paraphilias.
‘Humans seem to have the ability to sleep in almost anything,’ he explains in the book.
‘Woolies are people who derive sexual pleasure and arousal from wearing wool, often in the form of full-body “wool suits”.
Dr Griffiths believes this could be a new fit.
“The fact that there is no scientific research on hair suggests that the medium does not exist or that it is a newly discovered magic,” he added.
Some people are so obsessed with their jumpers that they find sexual pleasure in wearing them (stock photo)
‘Woolies’ are people who find sexual pleasure or an obsession with the feel of their own soft wool, or the skin of others.
According to experts, the magic of fur lies on a different spectrum from the most tame to the most extreme.
For example, some users simply enjoy the subtlety of a woman wearing a turtleneck sweater.
However, on the other end of the scale, some furs enjoy being ‘slightly submerged’ in blankets.
Back in 2014, Dr Griffiths was asked to comment on a series of ‘woolies’ cases for a Discovery Channel TV series, called Forbidden.
‘One of the furries shown was an American, Scott from Florida, who perhaps unsurprisingly ran a small company selling sweaters and said he had a “lifelong fascination” with fur,’ Dr Griffiths explains in his book.
‘When he was a boy he claimed to steal sweaters to hide in school lockers or in the woods near his house.
‘At the time of filming, he had 3,000 sweaters and said he was attracted to anyone wearing a sweater including men (despite being gay).’
Some users simply enjoy the silliness of a woman wearing a turtleneck sweater. However, at the other end of the scale, some wool tends to be ‘slightly submerged’ in blankets (stock photo)
Scott described his love of wool as ‘secret magic’, because no one knew he was being woken up walking the streets in his jumper.
The label also featured a German woman called ‘Lady Mohair’, who sold the whole body knitted clothing to people all over the world.
‘In the program he showed the audience his fur “unknown” as “Knuti” who became a woolly bear,’ Dr Griffiths recalls in his book.
Although there will be no scientific research on hair magic, Dr Griffiths says he believes it is valid.
‘My own opinion is that fur wizards exist,’ he added.
‘But, like many other magics I’ve studied, the incidence and spread can be very limited.’
You can find out more about paraphilias in Professor Griffiths’ new book, Sexual Disorders and Paraphilias: An AZ.
