Interesting article. We used to dress up a little for football games when I was in college. This past weekend, I attended the UT-Notre Dame game (we don’t have to discuss the final score, ha!) and was surprised at how casually the students were dressed, like they were heading to the gym.
That’s interesting, thanks for sharing.
Whatever the reason, I’m so grateful that Americans are far more casual than most other places.
Well, it was about 95 degrees and ND students are always going to be wearing The Shirt, which is a t-shirt. It also stormed several hours, so not sure if some changed clothes.
I do agree the state of dress in America has taken a nose-dive in the last 10-15 years. I’m far far from a fashionista, but I always wear business professional when meeting with clients. Interesting article.
When I was in Spain this spring, I played a game with myself. It was “try to pick out the Americans in the crowd”. I couldn’t. Everyone dresses casually and pretty much the same. The only difference I could find was that I could always pick out a Spanish man if he was wearing red or pink pants, something I’ve never seen in the US.
^ You must not live on the East coast , TatinG if you haven’t seen men wear “Nantucket reds”.
Fallgirl, was thinking the same thing-my dad had a pair back when I was a teen. Also had a pink oxford shirt (he didn’t wear it with the pants…) from a popular New England clothing company and a pink tennis shirt with an alligator on it. He was quite the clothes horse.
At my college, it was entirely possible for it to be close to freezing during some of the football games. Nobody dressed up, unless you count heavy coasts and hats and mittens. The idea of dressing up to cheer on a bunch of sweaty guys pounding each other seems just bizarre to me.
I’m hoping the day comes soon when we all wear super-comfy matching space-age outfits like on Star Trek (sort of a flattering global uniform that will banish peer pressure, like it supposedly does in schools).
As long as there are no red shirts, movemetoo.
“We used to dress up a little for football games when I was in college. This past weekend, I attended the UT-Notre Dame game (we don’t have to discuss the final score, ha!) and was surprised at how casually the students were dressed, like they were heading to the gym.”
You went to school in TX, though, right? I thought that was just a regional difference - Southerners dress up for football games (girls in sundresses, guys in khakis, etc.) whereas in the North, you dress very casually for football (sweatshirts, jeans, corduroys, etc.). A combination of both local custom AND different weather patterns!
Good point, Pizzagirl and sryrstress. It was hot! My dad and I were going to walk around the campus, but we changed our minds.
A side note: We were very impressed with the ND fans and employees. Dad and I were walking along a sidewalk, near some tailgate parties. A man in a ND shirt yelled, “Hey, you guys look thirsty. Would you like a drink?” We were decked out in burnt orange, so he knew we were UT fans. I told them it was nice to meet such classy people! We ended up talking to them for awhile. As we entered the stadium, every employee we came across said, “Welcome to Notre Dame!” And after we got trounced, no ND fans razzed us. 
We generally wore university or greek letter sweatshirts to football games. It was cooooold!
There was story recently about a woman in the UK who was asked to leave a coffee shop because she was wearing a sports bra (she had gone directly from the gym). She was pretty upset (she was sitting at a table, not getting the drink to go), and it made me think of that recent thread about a college student only bringing shorts and t’s for orientation.
A sports bra is kinda pushing the boundaries, although I personally have no objections to it. I know I wouldn’t sit and sip a latte at a cafe in my sweaty ultra-casual gym clothes. I see a lot of post-workout women at coffee shops around here, but they typically have a tank top over the sports bra.
Anyway, you know casualness has taken over when people get pissed over not being allowed to wear a sports bra into a cafe.
Might it have something to do with our individualistic, cavalier ethos – we want to wear what we want to wear, shunning form/fashion and going more for personal satisfaction and comfort?
I was thinking the same thing. My best friend wore those Nantucket red pants at the last 4th of July BBQ at his house, and he’s got a whole wardrobe of pastel colored pants when he’s not wearing red.
When my parents were in Lexington, VA the young women all wore pearls to W and L football games.
My summer off-work “uniform” is a sports bra, tank or sleeveless t-shirt, and a skort. Yes it’s casual, but it’s pretty and just as covered up as any woman in a sleeveless dress.
^A few male members of my family wear brightly colored and pastel pants.
This weekend we went out to dinner and a gentleman walked into the restaurant in a broad striped green shirt with muted pink pants, my first thought was that he was someone who didn’t care at all how he dressed because it looked sort of mismatched until I saw his shoes which were very fancy alligator loafers in a shade of green to match his shirt!
There was a segment on CBS Sunday Morning this past Sunday about the evolution of work dress. In the 1950s (Madmen era) people were very formal with suits and ties across the board. Nowadays, many people don’t have a separate work and casual wear wardrobe. The experts interviewed stated that the change may be in part to the blurred line between work and leisure/family time resulting from the ability to work at anytime via email, etc. They even noted that some places have a Formal Friday instead of Casual Friday.
I’m just happy to no longer have to worry about a) pantyhose and b) cost and chemicals of dry cleaning.
Southern football games: guys in ties/girls in pearls. At UVa, it appears to be changing over. At Va Tech, no, not in years. On game day it’s either the Maroon Effect or the Orange Effect and you wear that color.
At your kids’ schools, were football games something you have a date for? For mine at Va Tech, no, they went as a big group of friends. When I was at UNC 40 years ago, yes. And we “dressed up” but then, back in those days we were still wearing skirts and dresses to class as well.