Must-Have Tailgate Attire

By Amanda Cohen on August 6, 2016

Football season is approaching us faster than a touchdown made by the Michigan Wolverines (Go Blue)! Even though I enjoy a good game of football (kind of), I enjoy the tailgate and outfit planning much better (sorry football fans)!

The tough thing about football season is that it starts in late August when the sun is beating down on your skin menacingly and ends in late November when the winter chill creeps up on us and makes our backs tingle. Here is a list of items to have in your closet to ensure that you are prepared for all of football season in style!

Overalls – Overalls are all the rage in fashion right now and this can easily translate to one of the cutest tailgating outfits yet! For the summer games, I recommend wearing denim overalls that either have your school logo painted or printed on them, or just plain denim overalls with a bandeau or t-shirt underneath that bears your school name.

In the winter you can still wear overalls, but you can put a more aggressive school-spirit spin on them! Many schools sell overalls that are long-legged and have their school colors on them (super cool, I promise). Underneath this, in order to keep yourself warm, wear a thermal black or white shirt or a thermal shirt with your school colors on it!

Oversized Sweatshirt – There is nothing comfier than a big ole baggy sweatshirt in the winter (not to mention nothing warmer). When choosing which oversized sweatshirt to wear, you want to get creative.

Go look far beyond just your school’s bookstore. Go to shops like Etsy or Zazzle to find a sweatshirt that looks one-of-a-kind. I personally love vintage sweatshirts for football games, but the possibilities are endless. If you are artistic, you could even make one on your own!

The bottoms you choose to wear with the oversized sweatshirt really depends on the weather. I’m assuming you aren’t wearing a sweatshirt in the summer, so I have two options: one for the fall and one for the winter. In the fall, when it is still on the warmer side, wear spandex underneath your sweatshirt — even if the sweatshirt is a dress on you, wearing spandex will ensure that you can dance as crazily as you want without worrying about showing off too much.

In the winter, wear leggings — either solid or crazy patterned, depending on how outrageous your sweatshirt is!

Baseball-Style Top – Football tailgates in the later days of fall are not warm enough for you to just wear a bandeau, but also aren’t cold enough for you to wear a thick long-sleeve shirt. I am a huge fan of the baseball-style tops for tailgating (especially if they are oversized and you wear them as a t-shirt dress).

Baseball tops are three-quarters sleeve-length and are usually made of thin material. They are always super comfortable and can be obtained from just about any school bookstore or any store on Etsy, Zazzle, or RedBubble.

Similar to the oversized sweatshirt, you want to choose the bottoms that you wear with this top depending on the weather outside. Since baseball tops are not usually made of super crazy colors and patterns, make sure to jazz it up with some jewels on your face, some tattoos, or some cool socks!

Converse – Converse shoes are essential for football season, particularly a pair of Converse that you don’t really care about because I promise you that they will get dirty. I love Converse because you can customize them to match your school’s colors and you can make them into either high-tops or low-tops.

You will honestly wear the same pair of Converse for each tailgate, so make sure they fit properly and make sure that they are comfortable. No matter what style Converse you choose, make sure to pair them with a cool pair of socks that are above ankle-length.

I promise you that there is no such thing as too much school spirit and you will want to represent your school as much as possible. If you want to get really creative with your shoes, check out the company Skicks to pick a pair that are customized just for your school!

Other than the four suggestions I have listed and explained at the top, you want to also be sure to have certain smaller accessories that are equally as important in completing your game day outfit.

•Face jewels
•Face tattoos
•Beads (necklaces and bracelets)
•Socks
•Eyeshadow or eyeliner (color-coordinated with your school colors)
•Hair accessories (headbands, scrunchies, etc.)
•Nail polish (color-coordinated with your school colors)

Like I said earlier, you can never show too much school spirit so get creative with your outfit! If you want to paint your entire body your school’s colors, then do it! I promise you the crazier you look, the better you’ll feel!

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