RSS
ATOM
advertisement
Target Man: WPS, Puma Bringing Back the Skort?
At a party in New York this week, Women’s Professional Soccer unveiled their uniforms for their inaugural season, and Goal.com’s Greg Lalas wonders what the fashion world will think of one particular bit of gear.
Feb 27, 2009 4:47:00 PM
By Greg Lalas
Remember a few years ago when FIFA capo Sepp Blatter suggested women’s soccer would receive a boost if the female players wear “more feminine uniforms...tighter shorts, for example.” Sure, it was moronic, and the PC-niks rightly got up in arms, but the underlying idea—that style can have a substantive effect—isn’t such a bad one. Just ask Puma.
Let’s be honest, Puma is as much about fashion as it is about sport. That’s not to say they don’t make some good gear—I still miss my old Puma Kings with the big white flap tongues—but Puma’s ubiquitous streetwear shoes and simple shoulder bags have given it more runway cred than most of the other companies.
It also means they know how to throw a party. Which they did this week, when they unveiled the new uniforms for Women’s Professional Soccer at a soiree in New York. Coincidentally—or not—the show took place in the midst of the New York Fashion Week frenzy, and included a fake-grass runway and WPS players, like Hope Solo and Marta, participating as models.
Now, on the field Marta might be as smooth as Bebel Gilberto’s voice, but the LA Sol midfielder needs to call her compatriot Giselle Bundchen to find out about walking a runway. Her eyes darted around nervously and her forced smile said it all: I’d rather be anywhere but here right now.
She wasn’t alone in her obvious awkwardness. Everyone who strutted her stuff—Solo, Heather O’Reilly, Leslie Osborne, Lori Chalupny, among others—looked like fish out of water. Or like serious athletes when they host Saturday Night Live. The women practically sprinted down to the end of the runway—like they were “doing the beep test,” as Grassroots Soccer founder and curly-haired Survivor winner Ethan Zohn put it—and they were as bewildered by the skirt-like wraps they wore as everyone in the audience was.
“Is that a skort?” someone asked.
I have no idea if a skort is “more feminine” or “more Midwestern mall rat,” but it certainly got people at the party buzzing. (The vodka and chili-dogs didn’t hurt either.) Everyone wanted to know if it was really a skort. Would players be wearing it on the field?
No, we were told, it was just a fashion accessory. The players could wear it on the sidelines, maybe when warming up. “They can rip it off like basketball players before they go in,” someone mentioned. Or they could wear it any other time, like when going to the beach or dancing at a disco theme party. The short-wrap, it seems, is to be WPS’s contribution to the soccer-style.
I don’t see this skort thing taking off (no pun intended), but maybe. After all, I didn’t know what to expect from the whole Puma-WPS fashion show, and it turned out to be a lively shindig. The music pumped, the uniforms looked cool—I want a Chicago Red Stars replica jersey, light blue with red stars, inspired by the Windy City’s flag, or possibly its police cars—and several fashionistas in the crowd were wearing leather pants. Any party that includes women in leather pants. seemed to have a good time. For a night, the fashion and soccer worlds united. There were some serious fashionistas in attendance, dressed not to the nines, but to the elevens, as Spinal Tap would say. A lot of high-heels and a not a few pairs of leather pants.
Even Project Runway winner Christian Siriano showed up, and revealed two dresses inspired by the new line of WPS uniforms. He said one was a “home” design and one was an “away.” I didn’t pick up the thematic touches or even a hint of soccer in the two designs—maybe because the models could not have appeared more bored or less athletic—but then I’m not Anna Wintour. Or, thankfully, Sepp Blatter.
Greg Lalas is Site Director for Goal.com USA. “The Target Man” is his semi-regular column.
Remember a few years ago when FIFA capo Sepp Blatter suggested women’s soccer would receive a boost if the female players wear “more feminine uniforms...tighter shorts, for example.” Sure, it was moronic, and the PC-niks rightly got up in arms, but the underlying idea—that style can have a substantive effect—isn’t such a bad one. Just ask Puma.
Let’s be honest, Puma is as much about fashion as it is about sport. That’s not to say they don’t make some good gear—I still miss my old Puma Kings with the big white flap tongues—but Puma’s ubiquitous streetwear shoes and simple shoulder bags have given it more runway cred than most of the other companies.
It also means they know how to throw a party. Which they did this week, when they unveiled the new uniforms for Women’s Professional Soccer at a soiree in New York. Coincidentally—or not—the show took place in the midst of the New York Fashion Week frenzy, and included a fake-grass runway and WPS players, like Hope Solo and Marta, participating as models.
Now, on the field Marta might be as smooth as Bebel Gilberto’s voice, but the LA Sol midfielder needs to call her compatriot Giselle Bundchen to find out about walking a runway. Her eyes darted around nervously and her forced smile said it all: I’d rather be anywhere but here right now.
She wasn’t alone in her obvious awkwardness. Everyone who strutted her stuff—Solo, Heather O’Reilly, Leslie Osborne, Lori Chalupny, among others—looked like fish out of water. Or like serious athletes when they host Saturday Night Live. The women practically sprinted down to the end of the runway—like they were “doing the beep test,” as Grassroots Soccer founder and curly-haired Survivor winner Ethan Zohn put it—and they were as bewildered by the skirt-like wraps they wore as everyone in the audience was.
“Is that a skort?” someone asked.
I have no idea if a skort is “more feminine” or “more Midwestern mall rat,” but it certainly got people at the party buzzing. (The vodka and chili-dogs didn’t hurt either.) Everyone wanted to know if it was really a skort. Would players be wearing it on the field?
No, we were told, it was just a fashion accessory. The players could wear it on the sidelines, maybe when warming up. “They can rip it off like basketball players before they go in,” someone mentioned. Or they could wear it any other time, like when going to the beach or dancing at a disco theme party. The short-wrap, it seems, is to be WPS’s contribution to the soccer-style.
I don’t see this skort thing taking off (no pun intended), but maybe. After all, I didn’t know what to expect from the whole Puma-WPS fashion show, and it turned out to be a lively shindig. The music pumped, the uniforms looked cool—I want a Chicago Red Stars replica jersey, light blue with red stars, inspired by the Windy City’s flag, or possibly its police cars—and several fashionistas in the crowd were wearing leather pants. Any party that includes women in leather pants. seemed to have a good time. For a night, the fashion and soccer worlds united. There were some serious fashionistas in attendance, dressed not to the nines, but to the elevens, as Spinal Tap would say. A lot of high-heels and a not a few pairs of leather pants.
Even Project Runway winner Christian Siriano showed up, and revealed two dresses inspired by the new line of WPS uniforms. He said one was a “home” design and one was an “away.” I didn’t pick up the thematic touches or even a hint of soccer in the two designs—maybe because the models could not have appeared more bored or less athletic—but then I’m not Anna Wintour. Or, thankfully, Sepp Blatter.
Greg Lalas is Site Director for Goal.com USA. “The Target Man” is his semi-regular column.
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
8 Comments
Advertisement
Inside Goal.Com
-
DEMPSEY'S DIARY: Playing in the World Cup was the ultimate dream
In his latest diary entry for Goal.com, the U.S. international and Fulham midfielder talks about playing in his first World Cup despite a back injury and what it meant to score.
-
ROGERS: Capello resigns as coach, but the villain is FA chairman Bernstein
Capello and John Terry are far from blameless in the England saga, but the real culprit is the FA chairman.
-
LABIDOU: Is MLS falling behind? The league's new younger direction
With high-profile players like Nicolas Anelka and Luca Toni rejecting MLS for other developing leagues, is the league falling behind its competition?
-
ROSANO: Mexican soccer needs to address referee treatment
Nick Rosano argues that Mexico's continued officiating problems may have less to do with referees themselves and more to do with how they are treated by the federation.
-
VERTELNEY: MLS owners take to Twitter to spread their team's word
"Any time you tweet, it's a mini press conference," says Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson.
Advertisement
Advertisement
