Ugly Sweater Parties

Every year, a new crop of appalling pieces of knitted fashion make their way into the world via well meaning grandmothers and designers who failed to check the style manual. But what is one to do when your closet is full of reindeer sequined moth fodder?

Throw an Ugly Sweater Party!

Held typically as an excuse inside the holiday season to imbibe on refreshments while wearing your most ridiculous gear, ugly sweater parties have become somewhat of a tradition for end of year festivities. Many stores have even begun carrying ugly sweaters around the holidays. But the most popular way to acquire your own badly knit fashion piece is to dig through your closet, or just raid the local thrift store.

Here’s some more inspiration:

From top left, clockwise: Jimmy Fallon & Crew, John Mayer, Snoop Lion/Dogg mimicking his snowman with a corncob pipe, Justin Bieber, Cee Lo Green, and Kanye West.

You can hold your own Ugly Sweater Party, or you can attend one of these parties held the weekend before Christmas:

Aubergine: It will be a hard day’s night when Beatles tribute band Pepperland headlines an evening dedicated to your knitted abomination and holiday party on Saturday, Dec. 22. Jon Gonzales Band also plays. Don’t have an ugly sweater? Never fear. Arrive a little early and you can shop for one in Aubergine’s Emporium. The all-ages party will also have a contest, rewarding the person who wears the ugliest of all crocheted pullovers and cardigans. $10. 8 p.m. 755 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol.  auberginebarandcafe.com.

Hopmonk Sebastopol: Don your ugliest cable knit on Saturday, Dec. 22 for a night at the tavern of tacky dressed dancing and great music. The night’s entertainment will include John Courage, Frankie Boots and the Country Line, and the Timothy O’Neil Band. $10. 21- plus. 230 Petaluma Ave., Sebastopol. 8 p.m.  hopmonk.com/sebastopol.

Chrome Lotus: The nightclub is hosting their 5th annual Ugly Sweater Party on Saturday, Dec. 22, where your questionable fashion choice can get you in the club for free. DJs Enfo and Skywidit will play Top 40 and Dance hits all night. 21- plus. 9 p.m. 501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa.  chromelotussr.com.