• Life Advice & Visual Arts Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    🌌 Share Your Dreams! 🌌
    📸 15 Years of Photo Contests 📸
  • LAVA Moderator: Shinji Ikari

Sports apparel in fashion.

undead

undead

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 23, 2001
Messages
7,845
Location
Ohia, Heartland of Amurca
Obviously, sports fans have always enjoyed representing their favorite teams by wearing hats, shirts, etc. but nowadays it's getting hard to tell who the real fans are as sports apparel has become a major staple in the fashion culture.

It used to be that Yankee hats were all the rage which was evident in the hip hop culture, but now people are starting to rep teams from smaller markets (ie. markets other than your New Yorks, LAs, Bostons, etc.). I've approached a few people based on their hats and asked if they were a fan and normally I get the "naw, I just dig the colors/style."

I certainly don't think people should HAVE to be a sports fan to wear sports apparel, but it seems as though it used to be that way in the past, whereas now, repping a team through their apparel is more a stance of fashion than sports fandom. As a die hard sports fan it's semi frustrating because I have team loyalty and get annoyed when I see people wearing a hat of one team one day and the hat of that teams' rival the next, but as someone who enjoys fashion and style, I'm happy about the fact that teams are starting to incorporate more fashion savvy styles of clothes/hats/etc.

Anyone have anything to add? Such as why it's all of a sudden cool to wear random team hats and shirts? Is it based on the fact that there's a wide choice of color combination to go with shoes/shirts/etc. maybe?
 
i thought it was more of an attitude thing -- and of course, the sports are entirely different too. NWA loved the attitude that the Raiders put out, so they sported the Raiders hats. I am an avid sports fan as well, and usually, I assume that people with just a casual item on (a single item with x team on it) is not a fan. When I walk into a target and there are a group of guys in head to toe black and gold, with fleur de lis on every single thing they are wearing, I will shout out to them, because I know we both run the same, ya know? I think it's cool that sports is a little more hip, and I like searching for old conference game shirts or whatever at the Goodwill. There are just some places that I like, and it's not easy to say that without sporting their sports team or whatever. Sometimes, I just love the story of the school/team/whatever. Right now I'm on the lookout for a nice SMU tee shirt. (those who aren't big into college football, SMU is Southern Methodist University, who was handed 'the death sentence' by the NCAA for cheating -- it decimated the program, and 30+ years later they have yet to recover) I like the story, I like Texas, I like that they are still fighting for people to come play football, that they have had some amazing people come out of that program (erik dickerson cough cough), and it's just an intimidating name for a school. Southern. Methodist. University. SMU. I wouldn't expect people to think I am a student there, or a fan of the Mustangs in their current incarnation, but I'd still rep it. College football I guess isn't a good example, because coming from my conference, my allegiance doesn't lie with a school per say, but with my whole conference. I support the SEC team in any bowl game, regardless of who they are (even though my entire sports wardrobe is purple and yellow for my tigers.) because it's what you are supposed to do as a Southerner. I don't feel I've answered your question because it's a gray area for me, but that's as close as I can get, ya know? the popularity of hip hop and colour coordination has certainly added to this phenomenon.
 
No, I think your response is great. I think you're right that attitude DOES play a part in it.

I do, admittedly have a non Cleveland oriented fitted hat, but like you touched on, it's because of the place. It's a NY Mets hat. My justification, however, is that I purchased it at Citi Field in NYC while at a Mets game. My self respecting side will NEVER allow me to wear a Yankees hat, but I can wear a Mets hat without feeling like a douche.
 
lol -- i can't wear anything from the NE without feeling like a douche. All of the places I like and want things of are southern. People would call me a carpetbagger if i wore anything from up North.

eta: some of my favourite sports apparel doesn't even betray the fact that it is sports related.

this is my favourite LSU shirt ever:

chinese-detail-81259.gif


Chinese Bandits!

Saints shirt from same store:

church-detail-38878.gif
 
Last edited:
Kenicke - gotta rep NOLA!!!

I see alot of people sporting sports jerseys (haha) that aren't really big fans of anything, of course, the flip side is people like myself who would never spend money on a jersey or hat, but still enjoy watching sports.

It has simply become utterly divorced from any representation of fanaticism or love for a sports team at this point.
 
muvolution said:
It has simply become utterly divorced from any representation of fanaticism or love for a sports team at this point.
Click to expand...

Agreed, which is kind of a bummer in my opinion. I used to always feel a sense of (sports related) pride when I'd see someone else reppin my teams. Especially if I were away from home. In NYC if I'd see someone sporting a Cleveland Indians hat, I'd usually know it was because they're an Indians fan rather than a Kid Cudi fan.

Then again... Cleveland's been shit on so many times that when I see a Cleveland hat or shirt... it's typically still a real fan. :D

Also... this is a picture I snapped at an event I was recently at... if I go through the ENTIRE album, there's COUNTLESS teams represented across every sport.

Hats.jpg
 
most of the sports apparel i own is steelers related. altho i have a seattles sounders tshirt and jacket even tho i don't pay much attention to the mls. i got the shirt at a game and i stole the jacket from a friend.
 
Yeah... I can understand different teams from day to day, but different teams (from different cities) in one outfit??? That's kinda weak.

Which does remind me. One of the reasons I started this thread was because I happened to catch a Lil' Wayne video where he had on a Red Sox hat and a Yankees necklace. Anyone who doesn't know... that's a VERY storied rivalry in baseball. To me... that was just tacky. I don't know if it was supposed to be a subtle message or if he's just stupid.
 
At the risk of derailing my own thread... you'd enjoy my vacations! My last one took me through PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Citizen Bank Park in Philadelphia, and Citi Field in NYC. Home team won each game and I saw two grand slams. It was great!
 
I am so superstitous I can't wear my teams jersey when they are playing because I am convinced I jinx them. It has happended 3 times now and when they have an 85% winning percentage you just know it's more than a coincidence. ;)

I also had a pair of team socks that I convinced myself were bad luck and ended up throwing them out. I wouldn't even wear them to work in case I had a bad day.
 
undead said:
Which does remind me. One of the reasons I started this thread was because I happened to catch a Lil' Wayne video where he had on a Red Sox hat and a Yankees necklace. Anyone who doesn't know... that's a VERY storied rivalry in baseball. To me... that was just tacky. I don't know if it was supposed to be a subtle message or if he's just stupid.
Click to expand...

i assume it was supposed to be a message, because wayne is a serious sports fan and wouldn't be that dumb.
 
muvolution said:
I think he's maybe not all there.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this statement.



Here in Australia if someone is wearing a football jersey you can pretty much guarantee that they are an avid fan of that team. I think it's fair to say (Busty may agree with me on this) that the concept of wearing sports apparel as fashion is pretty much the opposite here as it is in the US, i.e. it's considered uncool and you'd only wear your team's apparel if they are actually playing on that particular day. Yeah sure, some people wear their sports team's apparel more frequently than that but they tend to be from *ahem* lower socio-economic areas...and it's not fashionable.

Having said that though, if I am actually going to the game I will proudly sport my Tigers jersey and scarf! But I would never wear my jersey to, say, the shops or even to a friend's place.
 
Sportswear isn't designed to be fashionable in Australia though.
Rugby & AFL are thre only real contenders in Australia for sportswear with regard to merchandise in the form of jerseys, caps etc.

The U.S have the NBA with all the singlets, caps etc which is designed to be fashionable, particualr in the hip hop market. Then there's baseball, ice hockey etc etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top