1 week Ago
I was surprised to see a lot of students sporting these jackets at a recent high school football game. It prompted me to ask a few high school teachers in our Region if these long-popular jackets continue to be coveted by teenagers. Their replies were the same: Yes, very much so.
“All of our girls have them,” one teacher told me. “This is still definitely a thing,” another teacher said. “Not as many as in the past, though.
” In my high school days, what we called letterman jackets symbolized not only a status for upperclassmen but a social status as well. It represented instant coolness and a sense of higher stature than other students. It also represented the coveted feeling of belonging, a critical dynamic for teenagers in any community.
And from any generation. I don’t recall many classroom assignments from my high school daze, but I clearly remember most of the “jocks,” as we called them, proudly wearing letterman jackets in school — and out of school. It was simply part of their daily fashion ensemble although they likely never used the words fashion or ensemble.
Those kinds of jackets seemed to enter a room before their owner, even transforming a socially awkward dweeb into a date night possibility. Or so I thought at the time. That was the power of a varsity jacket, whether it was adorned with embroidered letters or sport patches or sleeve stripes.
The more decorated a jacket, the more status for its owner. When I was a freshman, and an unwitting member of the freaks and geeks club, anyone wearing a letterman jacket had instant prominence in the caste system called high school. It was much more than merely an article of clothing.
It was a wearable declaration of achievement. The practice of wearing letterman jackets dates back to 1865 when Harvard University sports players sported thick-knit gray flannel pullovers with the letter H on the center. Players didn’t buy them, they had to earn them.
The jacket was an achieved award, not a subculture fashion statement. “Cardigans gained popularity over pullovers, thus making it necessary to shift the letter over from the center of the chest to the left,” according to United Sport Apparel. Only later, nearly a century ago, did it become a “varsity jacket” with social status perks and future generations of high school and college students wearing them for achievements in athletics, academics, performance arts and other activities.
Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Every autumn season, these jackets return in pop culture as an iconic fall fashion statement. It’s more than just promoting school spirit or boasting sports accolades. It’s also about street fashion, urban hipness, individualism and identity.
Our culture continues to value the social status power of certain clothing and accessories. Designer purses, brand name gym shoes, even Harley-Davidson apparel, which represents its own subculture. Try convincing a man who regularly wears Harley clothing to instead wear a varsity jacket.
Or anything else but black clothes with the iconic Harley brand. It won’t happen. Adults’ fashion choices mean just as much to them as varsity jackets mean to students who wear them.
These jackets may not be as popular as they were decades ago, but they still play an influential role in our society. Last week, I drove past Blythe’s Sport Shop in Valparaiso and noticed its sign stating, “Letter jacket season is here, order now.” That day, I shared a post on my Facebook page: “If you wore a letter jacket in high school or college, do you still have it? Have you sported it as an adult, or is it buried in a closet next to glory days memories?” The post prompted dozens of comments from my social media readers.
“Absolutely! My husband and I both have ours from ‘95, ‘96 and they hang in the closet next to our kids ‘21 and ‘23,” Leslie McCall wrote. “I have my Mom's from East Chicago Roosevelt. She graduated in 1938,” Marianne Pivovarnik wrote.
“I have classmates that wear them a couple times a year,” wrote Dave Hiestand, who graduated in 1982. I concluded that nostalgia can’t remain closeted for long when it comes to varsity jackets. “I took off the letters and chevrons, and put the coat in a box where it has resided since 1981.
My daughter wore it once to an ‘80’s day in high school,” Lori Miller wrote. “I have three hanging in a hall closet from my three kids. Had them all cleaned in the spring because they seemed to be growing things! Cost me $100+ but now they are good,” Sally Reynolds commented.
Today’s varsity jackets are more elaborate than the ones buried in closets and memories. Some even come with cell phone pockets. These jackets can be as unique as the student wearing it, and yet as universal as a Harvard athlete from the 19th century.
This is the true beauty of them. I’ve read several stories claiming these ultimate teenage status symbols are a thing of the past. But if you look around, you will see that these jackets are forever embroidered into the fabric of our pop culture.
And although I’ve never owned one or wore one, I hope they stick around for generations to come..
