Fashion Fridays

Title: Fashion Fridays

General Information about Item:

  • Customary
    • Tradition
  • English
  • USA

Informant Data:

  • Steven Hinshaw is a class of 2018 rugby player from San Diego, California. Steven had never played rugby before coming to Dartmouth and has since become immersed in the club becoming a regular starter on the team.

Contextual Data:

  • Every Friday before a game (usually played on Saturdays) the team practice is led by the captain. This means that it is usually a light practice where the team only goes through set pieces and plays against no opposition to ensure that everyone is in sync. Over the years as team uniforms have become more prevalent this Friday practice has been designated as the day that the team can go back to the more amateur days of the sport.

Item:

  • Every Friday before a game the players are allowed to wear any personal rugby clothing or gear that they own, although the clothing has sometimes left the rugby category. At the end of practice the President of the Club at the time decides on who he thinks has the best fashion according to the five “C’s” of fashion: Color, continuity, coordination, connectivity and creativity. It is important to note that the five “Cs” tend to change with each President, if not even on a weekly basis. The winner then gets the pride of being the winner and nothing else. The “tree race” also happens on Fridays along with other races between teammate. The “tree race” is a fifty meter dash from the halfway line to the goal line between the most lanky team members on the team. Anyone who is not participating in the race chooses who they think the winner will be and if you pick incorrectly you have to do ten push ups.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

  • Benjamin Hannam (BH): I’m here interviewing Steven Hinshaw. Steve, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
  • Steven Hinshaw (SH): Yes, my name’s Steven Hinshaw, I’m from San Diego, California. I’m an 18, originally from Indiana, and I’m an Econ major here at Dartmouth. I’m gonna talk a little bit about Fashion Friday. So basically on Friday, we dress up in gear, whether that be professional gear or something that has nothing to do with rugby. I usually wear the jersey of one of our coaches, Gavin Hickie, who played professional rugby in Ireland.  Some people get very creative with it, and wear everything from full jumpsuits to fireman outfits. So it’s usually a more relaxed practice when we are wearing this stuff. So at the end of practice our captain Max Parker, or sorry our President Max Parker, judges the outfits and awards the best outfit to somebody based on the five C’s which are: Consistency, Credibility, Connectivity, Color, and nobody really knows (the last C). So it’s usually the funniest outfit that has the most coordination, and it’s always a good time.
  • BH: Thank you.

Informant’s Comments:

  • N/A

Collector’s Comments:

  • Fashion Fridays serve as important connection in the club to the past more amateur times and remind the players that the sport is still very much about having fun.

Collector’s Name:

Benjamin Hannam

Tags/Keywords:

  • Fashion
  • Rugby
  • Friday