They just wouldn’t stay in the closet.

For years, our grandmothers and mothers and aunts have worn them. Our moms even made some of us wear them before we had a choice. (Some moms even bought or made all three of their kids new ones every single year AND kept them for all these years, only to be dragged back out for tacky sweater parties. You know who you are.) Admit it, you breathed a sigh of relief when you thought you’d never be forced to put one on again, and you made fun of people who did.

The Christmas sweater is back. And it was back in full force at the annual Sandbar party on Sunday.

Andrew was the Christmas Cowboy with his red plaid shirt and furry white vest. Dave (very creatively and all by himself) hot glued battery-operated Christmas lights onto a Snoopy t-shirt. And Jen scored big when Scotty found the Christmas sweater goldmine at Lasting Impressions, probably insulting female shoppers in the process.

Tegan and Ashley were decked out from head to toe, thanks to Ashley’s mom shipping entire Christmas outfits to them all the way from Tennessee. Patterned tights, slippers, holiday print turtlenecks- they had it all.

We had a flyer with the party details hanging behind the bar for the staff. Apparently all week long, customers saw the flyer and thought it was another Sandbar theme night for everyone. More than one customer expressed their excitement about pulling out their tacky holiday sweaters to the bartender on duty, only to be let down with the "it’s kind of an employee thing" line.

So, we’re going to share the fun. This Friday, we’re encouraging all of our patrons to raid mom’s closet (or their own) and proudly wear their Christmas sweaters to The Sandbar.

Tomorrow: Who was voted "Best Dressed" (or is it Worst Dressed?) at our party?