There are sideline style rules.
I mean, I wrote the rules and made them up and they’re not official, but they’re official if you know what I mean.
There is a very specific dress code that comes with being a sports mom. It’s not technically written anywhere but here now, but after spending well over a decade sitting on bleachers, in golf carts, sweating through football games and golf matches and cheer competitions, and spending approximately half my life in the car, I have developed a few opinions.
Number One: I need to be comfortable.
Number Two: I need to look cute.
Number Three: I’m not wearing school apparel.
This is not meant to offend anyone who wears these things, they’re just not for me. I’m sure your child is, in fact, number one, and you should wear their shirt loud and proud. But…I’m not.
With four children of my own, I have attended enough sporting events to qualify for some sort of honorary degree in sitting around waiting for someone else to do something athletic. I have also spent enough time around sports moms to know that there are basically two schools of thought when it comes to sideline attire. There’s the ‘I woke up at 5:47 and threw on whatever was clean, and now I am emotionally invested in this tournament,’ ensemble. And then there is me. The ‘I want to look like I have somewhere else to go after this,’ look. Even if I do not.
Especially if I do not.
My personal sports mom uniform is a variation of a cute tennis skirt, a polo, and cute sneaks, and sunglasses that scream, “please don’t talk to me.” And yes, it’s mostly Lululemon. The reason is that there is a certain beauty that comes with wearing a tennis skirt. It gives the illusion that I’m put together and cute, but I’m also comfortable. It works in the Florida heat, which is so important since not one of my four children has ever decided to participate in an indoor sport. I can walk around in it all day, I can run errands, but I don’t feel like my look screams, “MOM” when I’m doing things off the sideline.
Which brings me to my next point.
I don’t do school apparel.
I know, I know. But before you call the athletic department to report me (but also feel free, they don’t like me anyway), let me explain: I love my kids. I am incredibly proud of them. I cheer loudly, show up to every game and match, and I bring snacks for everyone. I sit through weather that should be illegal. And I take 700 photos and videos. But I don’t need to wear their school logo across my chest to prove that I’m a good mom. I prefer a more understated approach.
I want the vibe to be, ‘Oh, she looks put together even though it’s 800 degrees and she has to be dying,’ rather than ‘Oh, she looks like a mom’. I like to look like me, even on the sidelines. Motherhood has taken many things from me, such as the ability to control my own schedule, sleep, privacy, quiet…but the one thing I still have complete and utter control over is my personal style and appearance. And I need that to feel good.
I also really need pockets.
The sideline uniform
- The tennis skirt
- The polo
- The over-the-shoulder sweater
- The casual sneaker
- The glasses
- The bag
Everything I love and wear regularly is linked right here so you can see where I’m shopping, what I’m buying, and how I’m styling it.
Remember – do you on the sidelines, boo, but don’t forget that you can absolutely do you without sacrificing your personal style.
