My problem is that I think you, the readers, deserve as much new content as we can provide. My problem is that I think you deserve at least one new post of original content a day, if possible. Maybe not on the weekends when internet readership is way down, but just in general.
During the vast majority of the year, this benchmark is not difficult to attain. But in these dreary summer months it can be difficult. Nonetheless, we soldier on, drawing from the absolute bottom of the barrel (except for Hydro, who shames us all). In our desperation, we pull out one of the things most likely to cause our readers' productivity at work to rise: Cal game-day fashion.
With all this talk of the Gold Outs and also questions about what the gameday atmosphere is like, it got me thinking about doing a primer on what to wear on Saturdays in fall. Where to get it. Etc, etc, etc.
So, take 20 minutes to finish that spreadsheet you were working on and then think about maybe reading the rest of this post. This desperate, desperate post.
The first thing any Cal fashion wannabe needs to know is where to get the clothes. Cal stuff is sold all over the place, but there are 4 main places to get Cal gear. Let's look at them through the lens of "basic gear." Unless you are a micman, you probably aren't going to wear a button down shirt and a tie to the football game. For most people, it comes down to 3 items of clothing.
1. T-Shirt:
2. Hat:
3. Sweatshirt:
Sure, some might rock the double polo or the Cardigan vest. And if you are truly adventurous, you might roll with the button down yellow shirt with sleeves cut off, black suspenders, and navy blue capri pants. Oh yeah!
But for the vast majority of people, I think that the above 3 items are the main focus. So, let's take a gander.
1. Student Store. Perhaps the most diverse selection of Cal gear. However, a lot of it is not necessarily football-relevant. You probably aren't going to bring Cal mugs or Cal golf clubs into the stadium. Even taking away those areas, they do have a great selection of gear. They have some things that I haven't seen elsewhere like the Cal smoking jacket. Also, the Cal 2004 Road To The Rosebowl shirts that I got. That might not necessarily be something you want to sport to a lot of games, though.
The real question is do they have the good selection of basic things to wear to a football game. T-Shirts, I'm not sure they have the same level of selection as other places.
But their hat selection is absurdly good. When I got to Cal, I feel like the student store only had 3 kinds of hats. Now, they have four bajillion. Their sweatshirt selection is OK in comparison.
Of course, the major con is the cost. They do have some sales (mostly on those inane game-centric shirts like Cal v. Minn 05 that nobody cares about) and on Cal Day you can score some cheap swag. So, unless you want one of their voluminous and unique hats or some of the basketball gear that I haven't seen much of elsewise, the student store might not be the best place to go.
2. Bancroft Clothing Co . Bancroft Clothing Co. probably has the largest selection of directly relevant Cal gear. They seem to have a T-Shirt for every conceivable major on campus. Their hat selection, if not better than the Student Store, is very large, indeed. As far as cold weather clothes are concerned, they definitely have a good supply of sweatshirts and whatnot. They also have a large supply of non-Cal related clothes, which can save time when shopping. You can get shoes, too. Unlike Bear Basics (described below) it is generally very basic stuff. Nothing too fancy, but nothing wrong with that, I guess.
Also, they were my premier source of bandanas back like 2 years ago when those were all the rage. So, if you want to get combo Cal-non-Cal gear, this is the place to go. It's also a better deal than the student store, methinks.
Ragnarok reminds me of this story:
"the only thing i can think to add is a story about the time Bancroft Clothing Co., in their infinite wisdom, began selling red cal hats (something like 5 or 6 years ago, back when it was vogue to wear hats with the logo of your favorite team, but wildly different colors). rally-comm then stepped up and did what some called 'the most useful thing they've ever done' (those less generous substituted 'only' for 'most') in organizing a protest against Bancroft Clothing Co. the protest was successful, the hats were soon pulled, and balance was restored to the force."
3. Bear Basics. They don't appear to have a webpage. They too are good with the shirts. And they have some great deals. Their hat selection is a bit low, though. What they do rock in is sweatshirts. They have 1 billion sweatshirts hanging all around the wall there with every conceivable color and style.
So, they are definitely a strong option for good deals on sweatshirts. They also have the downstairs with a wide assortment of "ironic" shirts. If you've ever admired the shirt a manorexic was wearing, chances are he got it from the downstairs at Bear Basics. It's non-Cal stuff, but not blank and basic like at Bancroft Clothing Co.
There is an upstairs, too. I think they have women's clothing. Never been there.
4. Joy's! They don't appear to have a website, either. BUT! They are my fave place. They don't have the selection of shirts and/or sweatshirts that the other places do. But they still have a very solid selection of clothes. Their hat selection is pretty large, even if it doesn't quite compare with the student stores.
But they have one thing that the others lack. Cheap prices! Yes, I'm trying not to promote stereotypes here, but I love fishing through their piles of clothes to find the diamonds in the rough. Also, I own all the world's money. I once found a sweet fitted Cal cap for like 13 bucks. At the student store, it woulda been like 30.
I always find something to get when I'm in there. I don't know if its legit licensed, but I don't care! You can't beat the prices. Plus, I think they do all the stitching for the fraternity and sorority clothes et al.
You can't really go into Joy's with an expectation of getting a specific item. You just go in and say "I'll take what I can get." Some might find that a con, but I find it a major pro.
So, there you go. For the people new to purchasing Cal clothes, that was a bit of a primer to some locations to getting stuff. Depending on how this goes, I might start talking further about more advanced fashion topics, like how to wear a scarf for those rare cold games. Yes, scarves.
We really have hit the bottom of the barrel here, people. August 30th cannot come soon enough!