Press Box Attire - College Football

Thanks, V.

I'm limiting myself to fashion tips on the Journalism board.

 

If an airline does have to bump someone up to first/business class because the flight is full -- which happens less frequently these days, between elite members and non-revs, but it still happens -- they're absolutely going to look for someone who is dressed appropriately.

 

It's humorous to me how worked up men seem to get about other men dressing differently, particularly dressing up.

I went to the Kentucky Derby a couple years ago and wore a bow tie and a fedora. It's practically the damn dress code there. My best friend flips out about it on Facebook. "You idiot. I can't believe you're wearing a bow tie." And on and on. This is a guy who pulls a decent about of you-know-what, too.

A couple weeks later we go out and the fucker, who is about 40, wears a backward Blackhawks hat and a roofing company T-shirt.

 

Bullshit. I've been bumped to first class on several occasions wearing a warmup suit, which is what I always wear when I fly. Comfort matters. All this suit talk is nonsense.

 

So you're both posers. As long as ya know it and can be a little ironic with it. I never much understood -- or cared to -- people who dress so conservatively that they get rankled when other people change things up. Some people don't have the balls or confidence to pull it off. (Even a fedora.) I know guys in their 40s who still dress exactly as they did when they were 18. I find that kind of sad. I'm not talking about being a total chameleon like David Bowie or Lady Gaga or Bella Thorne, which frankly looks exhausting. But rocking stylish shoes or a tie or socks or changing your hairstyle, more power to you.

 

It's the Kentucky Derby.

 

The thing we're not discussing is... this all really depends on where you live, too.

 

I got that. I'd be pretty rocking a bow tie for that, too. it's a costume party, for crying out loud. But in daily life? No, I think bowties look awful and I tend to judge people harshly who wear them.

 

My brother is known to wear one on occasion while out on the town, but he is a supremely confident guy and basically considers himself an urban sophisticate of the highest order. (Whenever I get together with him and his wife, they regale me with 10 different examples of what a rube I am, like the time I asked if you can get neckties tailored or stirred a martini with a regular kitchen spoon. And they laugh together in the way that indicates that these are long-standing jokes in their home.)

 

Yeah, I'm in close proximity to humps like that in NYC on a daily basis. Rare to meet one who's not a pedantic douche.

 

Last year I wore a tie with a vest out with my wife for our anniversary dinner. (This was Chicago.) About two minutes in I realized I was wearing the bartender uniform.

 

Yep, I would argue location also dictates what works and doesn't work. I wore a shirt and tie to my interview at my last shop. The ME thanked me but said you don't ever need to dress like this here again. And honestly, with dark jeans and a button down, which I never tucked in, I was usually one of if not the best dressed reporters, at most assignments. Even when I moved from sports to news. But honestly, it was the community that allowed me to rock that look