Remember when Vince Vaughn asked Owen Wilson that fateful question, “Which do you like better, Christmas season or wedding season?” Well, we here at Her Campus Wake Forest think he left out one very important option: Tailgating season! Everyone who attended our first home football game last week must agree it was a blast. Who doesn’t love spending all day tailgating with friends out in the sun, followed by a WIN for our Deacs?!
Of course, every collegiette’s™ favorite part of every game-day Saturday is dressing up in your tailgating finest. Whether your tailgate plans include playing rounds of cornhole, digging into the mounds of baked goods or helping Wake Forest football GO GREEN by participating in Game Day Recycling, you’ve got to look your best! And trust us, you can still show your support for the Demon Deacons without resorting to yellow and black tie-dye (ew). Here are the most important Do’s and Don’ts for keeping every tailgating outfit Game-Day Chic!
DO wear your most adorable sundresses tailgating (while you still can)! The weather’s already starting to get chillier, so definitely take advantage of any game-days that are at least 75 degrees, and wear those pretty, colorful dresses. Summer’s not over until we say it is! No matter if it’s really hot outside or getting to be slightly chilly at those night games, pair your dresses with cowboy boots! Always adorable.
At the same time, DON’T freeze yourself to death. When the temps are really low and it’s starting to rain, don’t be the miserable collegiette™ who’s inappropriately dressed just for the sake of fashion. Goosebumps are not chic. A great alternative outfit for when sundresses just don’t provide the necessary warmth would be a long sleeved dress, a sweater dress, or a cute skirt/top combo. You can pair any of those options with boots or flats. And if it’s absolutely frigid, throw on a pair of tights and a cute scarf to top it off!
DO show your school spirit with plenty of black and gold! (Anthropologie has this adorably patterned black and gold dress –and it’s on sale!) If you can’t find a dress that has black and gold in its actual pattern, the perfect solution is wearing a black dress with plenty of gold accessories – jewelry, cross-body, shoes, whatever! And everyone has an LBD somewhere in their closet that is the perfect tailgating solution; if it seems a little fancy for a game, just remember to dress it down by wearing cowboy boots instead of heels.
Even if you choose not to wear black and gold for a game, whatever you do, DON’T show up in the opposing team’s colors! Freshman year I made the embarrassing mistake of wearing a bright red dress to the Wake vs. N.C. State game. Please, just don’t.
Lastly, and most importantly, DO attend every home game you can, and DO have tons of fun! Tailgating is a quintessential collegiette™ experience, and not every school is as lucky as we are here at Wake to have awesome D1 football every weekend! So put on your tailgating finest and get ready to cheer on our Deacs!
*Photography by Emily Seibel