Why do all Christmas sweaters have shoulder pads?

Last night Bryan and I went to an "Ugly Christmas Sweater/White Elephant" party thrown by our friend Megan. I picked up my beauty of a sweater at a vintage shop in San Francisco last weekend. We searched high and low for a mens Christmas sweater for Bryan with no luck. I guess those don't exist and if they do, its probably safe to say that they shouldn't. Every Christmas sweater I came across had gargantuan shoulder pads. Vintage or new, they were all well equipped with what I guess would be considered shoulder enhancers? What the heck are shoulder pads for anyway? Other than high-waisted stone-washed jeans, I can't think of anything less flattering. Anyway, I made it my mission to find Bryan the most disgusting ill-fitting sweater I could find. I finally stumbled across the rockin' fleece beauty below at K-Mart for a whopping $5. Boo yeah! 


Let's pose by the tree! We were going to make some silly holiday cards out of these, but Christmas is next week..

Backdrop at the party. Bryan looks like a creepy ski instructor in this photo. 

Me and our friend, Megan.