When did Americans stop dressing up to go to football games?

I watched "Leave it to Beaver" recently and Ward took Wally and the Beav to a college football game and they were all wearing suits!! I've seen this on "Donna Reed" too. So when did Americans begin to dress down when going to football games?

back in the day men wore suits everywhere and women wore dresses all the time.

tvland told me so.

IF you see old NFL films they still were wearing suits and hats into the very early 70's.

i bet they were all nixonites too!

But seriously, folks, I guess it was when the fans started playing as hard as their teams did!

My sisters and I dressed up to go to a Broadway play. We felt like idiots because everyone else were in casual clothes, but the usher who let us in told us that it was nice to see that some young people still had that kind of respect for the theater!

:headbang:
rocknation

and kids dressed for school much differently.

It's a widespread social trend which started in the 1960s. Snobbery, fashion and wealth became liabilities. Things have changed a lot, but America has never been as formal since the 1960s. Causal attire to the office was the inevitable result.

on classic sports one night. I was amazed at the number of people in the crowd who still were dressed in suits and ties.

http://store.cnnsi.com/store/sell?partno=NFL-RBAUTHJER-037&category=14317%2C87%2C3060&slot_seq=16847

$270 each. Do you have any idea how many of these you will see in an NFL stadium each Sunday?

Okay a $270 suit is that great but that is pretty pricing for something you MIGHT wear 8 times a year.

Oh, the things this says about people and mass merchandising and conspicuous consumption and blah blah blah.

sigh.

When I was young, we dressed up for Holidays, funerals, weddings and church, too. I had to wear dresses to school until 9th grade.

My Dad wore a 3-piece suit and my Mom wore a dress on Christmas day. My brothers and I were dressed to the 9's.

I'm shocked at people who go to weddings and funerals in jeans. JMHO

Sweat pants are the all-purpose "I gained 8 pounds since I last went clothes shopping" uniform around these parts....

Yeah, even to visit the mortuary...

What stuns me are the people in the jogging suits dripping in gold and diamond jewelry. But what do I know? Times change, I should get with the program and be a slob too. :)

I'm one to talk, I don't even OWN a suit.
But I don't own sweat pants, either.

Last time I flew, some little honey showed up in her PJ's and flip-flops...

made ridiculously bloated salaries nor did they act above the law because they felt they were so wealthy. :eyes:

Pro sports is not for the middle class. It's just another business.

And given the high entry costs, never mind the grand theft prices for the junk food and liquor, would you rather afford a suit or be able to go watch one game? (a 'family of 4 event' would cost over $100 per game these days for only basic seats (the 'cheap seats' are naturally the crap ones where you can't see squat). :wow: )

Oh, that's not what you meant....

I know - I was recently reading a book about the Depression. Even the guys in bread lines and unemployment lines were wearing hats and jackets. That really struck me.

I wish people did dress up more. You can barely get them to do it for a wedding now. And forget a funeral - I've seen people in all kinds of casual get-ups at funerals.

at Ole Miss games (as of a couple years ago). She also said she loves the irony that they are all so wasted that they probably don't remember going to the game...

At least they did a few years ago, when I went in jeans & my alma-mater's sweatshirt.

and I'm going to my fifteenth reunion next Spring. I've seen current photos and our student body still wears jacket and tie or a dress, whatever the gender may prefer. My high school was a different story. We were total slobs.

Some people just have too much time on their hands. :)

Very sad, really. I mean, I like the move to a more casual attitude, but it's gotten out of hand - men wearing hats inside, even at restaurants, and not even good hats: shitty little baseball hats with logos and crap on 'em, usually dirty from their unwashed hair; wearing muscle shirts to restaurants; showing up oln airplanes with shorts and t-shirts and the belly hanging out; guys wearing shirts with the sleeves ripped off;

Pfagh.

Hate to be a traditionalist, but criminy, people, you can easily dress casual without dressing like a g--amn slob. Men and women both that applies to.

wearing a cropped belly shirt at the grocery store the other day.

:evilgrin:

It's amazing the shit people wear. And I'm pretty tolerant. Wanna dress goth? Grunge? Retro? Modern? Sexy? Uptight? It's all okay. Just do it neatly (and yes, there is a way to dress grunge without dressing filthy) and with respect for the sensibilities and presence of other people.

Just don't be a g--amn slob about it, and don't be rude to other people by dressing in a way that tells them you have no ability whatsoever to respect them.

of human activity?

Were Ward, Wally and the Beav shotgunning beers in the parking lot?

I agree with you that people are truly awful in some of their fashion choices when they go to weddings, funerals, nice restaurants, the theater, etc.

But dressing up for a sports event is pretty silly, IMHO. Especially when it's cold, or there is the distinct possibility that you may get beer all over your outfit.

And I don't know why people get so worked up about people not dressing up on airplanes anymore. You dress for comfort, that's it. With the way air travel has become like a cattle car, wearing your best dress isn't such a good idea.

I agree that some clothes are better left at home -- sweats, ripped and stained stuff, etc. But I don't think the trend toward casual is always a bad thing.