Jerseys, Pajamas, and Cookie Monster Hats: Sports Fashion at Hopkins

The Varsity Field Hockey and Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse teams have similar uniforms ‒‒ skirts and short sleeve jerseys. Scarlett Iaccarino ’28, a member of the Varsity Field Hockey team, prefers a short sleeve jersey, offering a practical explana- tion for the preference: “Field hockey is a fall sport and the end of the season can
get pretty cold.” However, Kelsey Reichart ’27, a player on the Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse team, thinks “the jerseys fit weird around the shoulders.” Reichart also reported that “the skirts are super thin and don’t have shorts.” She explained that players “usual- ly have to wear spandex shorts underneath, which can get a little uncomfortable.” De- spite the challenge of playing in skirts, Violet Wich ’25, a captain of the Varsity
Field Hockey and Girls’ Lacrosse teams, prefers the look: “I’ve seen a lot of lacrosse teams, especially in the NCAA, switch to shorts, and it just doesn’t look as good to me.” However, on the Varsity Girls’
Soccer team, wearing shorts is the norm. While the field hockey and la- crosse teams both have home and away jerseys, some sports face difficulties of only having one uniform. A’nai Alvarez ’26, a captain of the Varsity Softball team, explained that “softball having only one uniform makes it hard when we have four games in a week and we all smell, but you get used to it, I guess.” Avani DiLuna ’26, a member of the Varsity Volleyball team, shared a similar sentiment: “I wish we had proper away [game] uniforms.” DiLuna also noted that her jersey has “holes since it’s so many years old.” Meanwhile, Aedan Flanagan ’26, a wrestler, shared that “Wres-
tling just got new uniforms which I think is a great improvement and allows us to have more options for different events.”

O t h e r sports face the limitations of s p o r t - s p e c i f i c r e q u i r e m e n t s . Suki Sze ’25, a member of the crew team, said, “The crew uni- form is a unitard. I don’t really like the design, or find it aesthetically pleasing, but it is the requirement.” Similarly, Emilia Adams ’26, a captain-elect for next cross coun- try season, said, “The cross country uni- forms are fine, but there’s definitely room for improvement.” Because of the tradi- tional cuts of cross country uniforms, she shared that “our tops aren’t that flattering or comfortable, and the shorts are super revealing and the waistband isn’t great.”

However, some sports have the freedom of designing their own uniforms. The Varsity Girls’ Tennis team usually pur- chases their own uniforms from Lulule- mon rather than wearing the school uni- forms. Roselyn Shen ’27, a member of the team, said, “I prefer this because it means we get to wear what we want and decide our own outfits.” The Swim and Dive team also controls the design of their swim- suits. Emi Fridman ’26, who swims for the Hopkins team, said that “the captains each year pick the style of suit and design them, and because they also have to wear them they’re usually cute.” The Fenc- ing team, while they do not wear team uniforms,
created custom merchandise this year rather than using the Athlet- ics Department Store. Sam Ridky ’26, a captain of the team, clari- fied: “We worked with the Com- munications Of- fice to make sure we had the right designs/color- ing, etc.” He explained that by creating their own website using Squarespace and ordering on imprint.com, “everything was $10-15 cheaper (per item), it got in ear- lier, and we could use our own designs.”

Outside of the official Hopkins uniforms, many teams do dress-up days to bring the team members closer together. Members of an athletic team will wear themed clothing, like all-black clothes or jerseys, to school the day of a game. Team dress-ups serve as a way for athletes to iden- tify their teammates in the halls, whether the themed outfits be tame or embarrassing. Flanagan said,“Football typically wears uniforms over our clothes the day before our games and Wrestling dresses up in semi formal clothes,” both sports choosing more traditional looks. However no matter how wacky a dress up can get, Iaccarino finds that they’re fun no matter what: “I think people should find it less embarrass- ing; even though walking through campus while wearing a Cookie Monster hat was not my favorite moment, it was something that everyone on the team participated in!”

Specific sports seem to find dress-ups essential. Flanagan spoke to the role of dress-ups for the Varsity Football and Wrestling teams: “I think team spirit plays a big role in dress-ups, letting the team feel more like a team on and off the field or mat.” Fridman also believes dress- ups have a role “in an individual-oriented sport like swimming,” as in her opinion, they “make the team more of a team.” For Varsity Field Hockey, dress-ups serve as an initiation to the team. Wich said, “For the first game of field hockey season, we make all the new Varsity players come to school with their shin guards and goggles on.” While she acknowledges that it can be embarrassing, she believes that “it just brings everyone closer together.” How- ever, Reichart has a different perspective: “I think team dress-ups are super fun,” however, she does not think that they are “super important for team chemistry.”

While sports uniforms and team dress ups can vary in quality or in ap- pearance, they show off the Hopkins

team spirit and their tenacity to push forward. Maybe a Cookie Monster hat stands out among a crowd, but it sig- nifies a bond that transcends games.