Sports jerseys can be more than a team’s identity. In a fashion sense, these can be some well-needed inspirations.
Around late last year, a TikTok video from a fashion content creator I follow caught my attention. The video was about his ‘hack’ involving taking cues from sports teams — particularly from their jerseys — to build a wardrobe. As he noted, it’s just about choosing the right tones of these colors to know what’s ideal for you.
And looking back, it made perfect sense. Often, we wear a team’s jersey to show our support for them. But little do we know that these very uniforms can also serve as a guide for our own fashion tastes.
There will always be moments when we want to go beyond our basic black-and-white or neutral-tone outfits. And if you’re a sports fan or enthusiast, you may simply need to look into the various sports teams to know which colors actually work together.
Here’s why this is a foolproof fashion hack that you might want to keep in your back pocket.
#1: They’re tried and tested
For one, many sports jerseys have remained the same throughout the years. Yes, there have been rebrands and maybe some minor changes, but many teams have kept the same core for the most part. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? And that probably says a lot.
Secondly, most, if not all color combinations have already been reused across sports leagues. Whether it’s due to inspiration or a mere coincidence, chances are you’d likely see teams across leagues have similar colored sports jerseys.
For instance, a white and red combination. In the NFL alone, you can already see these in teams like the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs, or even the New York Giants in their away jerseys. In the NBA, albeit in different tones, there’s the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls, or the Portland Trail Blazers.
These color combos work for a reason, and these teams prove why they’re timeless.
#2: The internet has given us a huge archive
With the rise of the internet and social media, information has become more accessible than ever. In the context of this piece, looking for your next sports jersey inspiration can be done through an easy Google search, or backtracking through niche social media pages.
Given this, we all have a huge archive at our fingertips. And if you’re knowledgeable about certain sports teams, or leagues, it’s probably just a matter of knowing specifics, like what seasons they wore a particular uniform. Probably franchise players of a certain time period, too, if that works for you.
And if anything, such accessibility goes beyond the context of information. Not everyone may be willing to go on social media to find the right influencers teaching all things fashion, for one thing. And secondly, at times, an easy guide is all we need instead of a full-blown lecture, right?
#3: An endless list of references
As it stands, home and away kits alone are already a goldmine. While a lot of teams have opted for the same palette over the years, many have also made some changes. Offhand, let’s remember the Los Angeles Lakers (seen immediately above), who once wore predominantly baby blue and white jerseys before switching to their now-iconic purple and gold in the 1960s.
Throughout the years too, there have been tons of “alternate”, or special edition sports jerseys. Whether it’s a brand new design based on team lore, or just to give prominence to one of the team’s main colors, the possibilities are there.
And moving forward, more and more designs will be introduced to the public. If we already have thousands of references now, what more let’s say two years from now right?
Beyond design even, there are tons of leagues one can follow. In particular, there are the collegiate leagues, whether local or international or even the Olympics, given the style statements made there over the years.
Banner images from Mookie Betts on Instagram and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Facebook.
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