The Miami Hurricanes football team, on Nov. 9, played their last home game of the season, marking the end of this year’s tailgate season. University of Miami students showed off their school spirit in new, innovative ways for the 2019 football season.
“I can’t believe it’s already over,” said sophomore Haley Lanzoni, who is a fashion assistant for Distraction Magazine. “I have so much fun dressing up for the tailgates.”
This year, Lanzoni embraced new trends for this year’s tailgate season, such as fishnet socks, biker shorts and cropped jerseys, steering away from cheerleading skirts and bandeaus from last season.
“Last year, my outfits were cuter and more fun, but this year I started wearing edgier pieces,” said Lanzoni.
To keep up with new trends, Lanzoni estimates she spends $250 a year on gameday attire from brands, such as Gameday Bae, Urban Tailgaters and Lo + Jo Bands.
“I usually post my outfit on Instagram, so I can never repeat a look,” said Lanzoni. “It has to be different every time.”
Sophomore Alena DelBene, the founder of the customized tailgate clothing company, Urban Tailgaters, says the University of Miami has a unique tailgate-style that sets it apart from other schools.
“What we wear in Miami is so different than schools like Alabama or even Penn State,” DelBene said. “Here, it’s more about comfort while considering the heat. It’s definitely not the kind of clothes you would wear on a day-to-day basis.”
When coming up with new designs for her line, DelBene turns to popular clothing stores like LF for inspiration.
“LF is right on trend,” DelBene said. “It is what kids are wearing around campus. I wanted to make LF-type clothing for a college student’s budget because realistically, you will only wear an item once. It gets dirty, you take pictures in it…it’s not meant to have a long life.”
This year, DelBene incorporated more chains and metals into her collection, noting that her “ring-tee” was her bestselling item.
Meanwhile, freshman Liam Creswick, host of UMTV Pulse “Behind the Seams,” saves money by making his own tailgate apparel.
“Special events like these give me an opportunity to express my creativity and go wild,” Creswick said. “A lot of students spend money on tailgate clothes because they have other people customize them. I honestly don’t think it’s worth it since I can do it myself.”
The biggest trends Creswick saw this year were customized crop tops and bucket hats.
Now that the 2019 tailgate season is over, students are already looking forward to next season’s trends.
“I feel like tailgate trends evolve so much from year to year,” Lanzoni said. “It will be interesting to see what’s next.”