Photos
I was in a pizza parlor with my husband on Saturday when I spotted them: A married couple in their mid-50s wearing matching nylon Patriot’s football jerseys.
Being well into middle age and a long suffering wife myself, I smiled broadly at the woman, trying to catch her eye so I could joke with her about her choice in costume.
Alas, she was having none of it. This woman was thrilled to be wearing a matching football jersey with her husband, reminiscent of tourists on Cape Cod who wear T-shirts that read “Master” on one and “Slave” on the other.
I have a code: no man or woman over the age of 12 years should ever wear clothing that is a knock-off of a professional sports outfit; this includes professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey team clothing. Only children can carry this look off with relative ease. An exception to this rule might be fathers with their sons and daughters visiting Cooperstown in the high season.
If I did not have this code, I would be dressing like my one of my favorite journalists Norman Mailer, who wore blue safari shirts and khaki pants every day for 30 years. I also admire Julia Child, but I don’t wear a chef’s hat and an apron when I am out on the town. I am in awe of medical doctors, to the point that I never question them, a friend calls it “white coat worship,” yet I don’t run around the Stop and Shop wearing a lab coat.
And, my obsession with long distance swimmer Diana Nyad in my college years thankfully did not give way to me sporting a racing swim suit in restaurants or at the mall; I just swam two miles a day in the open water.
So why is it that grown men wear professional sports gear? We have a fairly good idea why women wear team clothing. …
Barbara Mulvey-Welsh
12:13 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Exactly!
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
12:16 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Phew! Barbara, I thought I was alone in this!
Barbara Mulvey-Welsh
12:17 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Ha ha. Nope. Can't wait for my husband to read this cause he feels the same way! Excellent article. I really enjoy reading all your columns.
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
12:20 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
I enjoy your writing, too!
Stephanie Reilly
12:25 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
I love this!
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
12:30 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
If three of us are in agreement, we could have an organization, a la Arlo Guthrie in "Alice's Restaurant."
Barbara Mulvey-Welsh
12:33 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Yes, we can call ourselves people who dress like grown-ups! HA (and thanks)
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
12:36 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Indeed!
Casey Meserve
12:38 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
I'm wearing my Bruins jersey today so pthpthpth!
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
12:42 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Casey, I've been waiting for you to chime in. Do you have a Patriot's jersey?
Sean Walsh
1:55 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Enjoyed the column - right on! I might suggest that men wear their favorite players' jerseys out of a quasi-boyhood dream to be like those Sunday afternoon heroes of their youth ! Or maybe ... it just looks cool ! LOL
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
2:32 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Sean, that is an explanation worth pondering. Thank you for the insight!
David Ertischek
2:06 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
My cutoff point is at the age of 21. Jay-Z has a lyric on his song "What More Can I Say?" .... And i don't wear jerseys I'm thirty plus... So it sound like his cutoff point is past both ours.
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
2:33 pm on Sunday, February 5, 2012
Jay-Z is a wonderful entrepreneur.
Michael West
7:22 am on Monday, February 6, 2012
I'm sure it's not very different from emulating fashion pages, copping a look from a tv show, an ad or a movie. "How white my shirts can be" is a line from Satisfaction. I am amazed at how many people wear camo and khaki. I guess there is a powerful need to feel like you belong. Notice how logos have moved from inside waistbands and collars so as to advertise "we are of this tribe."
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
8:07 am on Monday, February 6, 2012
Sports attire as fashion. I must admit, Michael, that I had not thought of that. But, of course, you are right!
David Bolton
11:02 am on Monday, February 6, 2012
Sports shirts are fashionable. I still play soccer (at the age of 43) and have replica shirts going back to 1978. Whenever I watch sports either in bars or at the game, I wear a replica shirt - Red Sox, Bruins, England, Tottenham Hotspur. Every replica shirt that I own has a significance to me, wearing it out in public isn't a fashion statement but a piece of my identity (especially as I am not originally from the USA). I do agree that there are certain people who don't look good in a skin-tight piece of sports fabric but I watched the Superbowl and Vince Wilfork looked as if could barely fit in his jersey. Sports shirts are more than fashion, they show support for a team, they signify that the wearer is part of a community and I have no problem with highlighting any allegiance in public - with the obvious exception of people who wear Yankees hats.
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
3:24 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
David, Can't even begin to argue with a man from the British Islands! You don't need to wear a Red Sox shirt to fit in!
George
11:23 am on Monday, February 6, 2012
I agree with David. Sports replica shirts are a frun way to display your team pride, fraternity, support and loyalty. What is disgusting is some of the fashion get-ups some people display trying to emulate the runway trends. Short capris pants capped by a big wide butt and transported on stilletos is especially rediculous.
Stephen Gimmi
1:48 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
Margaret, interesting post, but I could not disagree with you more. I don't have the shirts of teams but I collect NFL caps. I enjoy wearing them and following my favorite team. I find it a release for a couple of hours a week to get out of my business mind and family mode and just let go with something I can just have fun with. I am also proud that my wife has learned the game of football enough to banter with me instead of just becoming a football widow. Im 51 please do not think so small that having a release or outlet for the stress of life has to be dummied down just because a couple finds a common ground of fun in their favorite sports team. Lighten up, most of them have learned to, maybe so should the rest of us.
Margaret Carroll-Bergman
3:20 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
It depends how you wear the cap, with the brim backwards or to the side or in front!
C Mammone
2:12 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
It is in no way worse than the women I see lately who brought back those 80's black skin tight elastic/nylon/cotton whatever they are pants. Then wear them around with no undergarments. I am sorry but we could have picked on much worse taste in attire. I agree with the other posters though I do not own one myself that these jerseys are worn in pride and representation of a team and or sport or player in which they admire. Nothing wrong with that at all. Some men and women actually wear them very well. Walk around Walmart for 5 minutes and I am sure you'll have plenty of comments about inappropriate attire! LOL