The passion of football fashion is rising all over the world with football fans. They tend always to buy the outfit of their team or the t-shirt with the number of their favorite player. Also, teams try to design the best outfit for them and try to be the best. This competition among teams seems like a fashion show. In this article, you can know how the passion of these outfits increase.
The latest fashion phenomenon in London, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing or Bangkok is not haute couture. Indeed, it seems that the latest fashion craze for both male and female throughout the cities of Europe and Asia is for football shirts. Track suits, trainers, polo shirts and ski jackets have all made the transition from the sports field to the street, but when it comes to football shirts being worn as street wear, one sport in particular stands head and shoulders above the rest. Football is undoubtedly the most popular team game in the world, with an ever growing number of countries participating in it. So, it’s hardly surprising that sports apparel has become such a popular fashion choice. Not only do fans get to advertise their allegiance to their team, but they also get to wear something that is light, comfortable, and easy to wash and it would seem, suitable for almost any occasion. Football shirts are the most popular items sold on eBay, with one shirt being sold every six minutes.
Dr Jack Fawbert, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bedfordshire will tell us the reasons this increased global interest of football fashion. He believes that just as our ancestors were once part of a local tribe, we are now choosing to become a member of a global tribe and we show this by wearing the tribal colors, as represented by football shirts.“In our postmodern society, community is not something that should necessarily be understood by clearly recognizable geographical limits. Today, people pick and choose, and mix and match from identities available in the lifestyle marketplace, which have replaced the old working-class communities. It is a kind of do-it-yourself tribal culture and replica football shirts can be seen as signifiers of such cultural groupings.”
The current obsession for high profile players and their wives or girlfriends (WAGS) has also made the idea of belonging to a tribe or team ever more popular. In 2003, when David Beckham first joined Real Madrid, more than one million Beckham shirts were sold. Undoubtedly, the clubs are also well aware that their shirts are being worn by their fans and they try to design a look that will be popular. In 1996, Manchester United introduced a kit designed more with the fans, rather than the players in mind. The kit was grey, a color chosen because it was believed that it would look better worn with jeans than the traditional Manchester United red.
However, the kit color was soon abandoned as the team’s manager Alex Ferguson, complained that the new color was causing the team to lose because it meant that the players could no longer see each other clearly on the pitch. Yet, football shirts don’t come cheap. Rivaling the prices of designer fashion, a typical football shirt can cost around £50, even more if the shirt bears the number or name of a particular player. Combine this with the fact that a team changes its strip at least once each season and the cost of keeping up with this expensive trend soon adds up.
So, where does that leave the diehard fan or the local, amateur side, who want to look and feel like their professional idols? Fortunately, there are many alternative shirt brands now available, so there is a way of looking like your favorite football hero without having to take out a second mortgage. Purchasing online is always a great way to find a bargain. Companies such as www.footballsportsapparel.com often source their shirts straight from the same manufacturers as are used by the clubs. So you can get the right look and feel, but for a fraction of the high street price. You can even have your shirt customized to order or use your creative skills to design the kit for your own team.
With the global enthusiasm for football continually growing, the passion for football fashion is steadily increasing too. It seems that as long as there is football fans the craze for wearing sports apparel on the street, unlike other fashion trends, will never die. So, in its short life time the humble football shirt has come a long way. Beginning life simply as a way to distinguish one set of players from another, the football shirt has grown into a cultural phenomenon and more importantly to fans throughout the globe a must have fashion accessory.
As a conclusion, the passion of the football outreaches the fashion to the players’ families like their wives and kids. Also, they believe that the outfits and their color affect the team and its achievements and victories.
The latest fashion phenomenon in London, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, Beijing or Bangkok is not haute couture. Indeed, it seems that the latest fashion craze for both male and female throughout the cities of Europe and Asia is for football shirts. Track suits, trainers, polo shirts and ski jackets have all made the transition from the sports field to the street, but when it comes to football shirts being worn as street wear, one sport in particular stands head and shoulders above the rest. Football is undoubtedly the most popular team game in the world, with an ever growing number of countries participating in it. So, it’s hardly surprising that sports apparel has become such a popular fashion choice. Not only do fans get to advertise their allegiance to their team, but they also get to wear something that is light, comfortable, and easy to wash and it would seem, suitable for almost any occasion. Football shirts are the most popular items sold on eBay, with one shirt being sold every six minutes.
Dr Jack Fawbert, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bedfordshire will tell us the reasons this increased global interest of football fashion. He believes that just as our ancestors were once part of a local tribe, we are now choosing to become a member of a global tribe and we show this by wearing the tribal colors, as represented by football shirts.“In our postmodern society, community is not something that should necessarily be understood by clearly recognizable geographical limits. Today, people pick and choose, and mix and match from identities available in the lifestyle marketplace, which have replaced the old working-class communities. It is a kind of do-it-yourself tribal culture and replica football shirts can be seen as signifiers of such cultural groupings.”
The current obsession for high profile players and their wives or girlfriends (WAGS) has also made the idea of belonging to a tribe or team ever more popular. In 2003, when David Beckham first joined Real Madrid, more than one million Beckham shirts were sold. Undoubtedly, the clubs are also well aware that their shirts are being worn by their fans and they try to design a look that will be popular. In 1996, Manchester United introduced a kit designed more with the fans, rather than the players in mind. The kit was grey, a color chosen because it was believed that it would look better worn with jeans than the traditional Manchester United red.
However, the kit color was soon abandoned as the team’s manager Alex Ferguson, complained that the new color was causing the team to lose because it meant that the players could no longer see each other clearly on the pitch. Yet, football shirts don’t come cheap. Rivaling the prices of designer fashion, a typical football shirt can cost around £50, even more if the shirt bears the number or name of a particular player. Combine this with the fact that a team changes its strip at least once each season and the cost of keeping up with this expensive trend soon adds up.
So, where does that leave the diehard fan or the local, amateur side, who want to look and feel like their professional idols? Fortunately, there are many alternative shirt brands now available, so there is a way of looking like your favorite football hero without having to take out a second mortgage. Purchasing online is always a great way to find a bargain. Companies such as www.footballsportsapparel.com often source their shirts straight from the same manufacturers as are used by the clubs. So you can get the right look and feel, but for a fraction of the high street price. You can even have your shirt customized to order or use your creative skills to design the kit for your own team.
With the global enthusiasm for football continually growing, the passion for football fashion is steadily increasing too. It seems that as long as there is football fans the craze for wearing sports apparel on the street, unlike other fashion trends, will never die. So, in its short life time the humble football shirt has come a long way. Beginning life simply as a way to distinguish one set of players from another, the football shirt has grown into a cultural phenomenon and more importantly to fans throughout the globe a must have fashion accessory.
As a conclusion, the passion of the football outreaches the fashion to the players’ families like their wives and kids. Also, they believe that the outfits and their color affect the team and its achievements and victories.
This artcile was written by Christine Oatley in November 2009. As such you DO NOT have permission to reproduce it on your site and in doing so you are breaching my copyright. Please remove this article with immediate effect.