Football fashion

"It smells like school spirit, and Patrice is the only one without B.O." is what went through my head as I attended my first ever IU football game.\nIt all started when my good friend Josh called and talked me into going to an IU football game, an event as foreign to me as dreidel-spinning. Of course, I objected, whined and resisted, but ultimately I was dragged to Memorial Stadium. \nFirst of all, I am deathly afraid of football stadiums. Drunk people walking down steep stairs without a railing doesn't sit very well with me, but it gets worse when I am the one walking down steep stairs without a railing. I thoroughly enjoy football, but I enjoy it the most in the comfort of my own home or a sports bar watching the New England Patriots or the Indianapolis Colts. \nAs I walked up the steps to a seat, I noticed something. I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was the only in the entire stadium not wearing cream and crimson. As I sat there watching our team whoop their opponents, I began to get into the game. I started to loosen up and have fun, but I couldn't help feeling like something was missing ... \nOh yes, it was my Indiana T-shirt. \nAs I sat there clad in a lavender shirt and black pants, I was embarrassed by my fashion faux pas. Then I began to think about it, I realized I don't even own an article of clothing with the word Indiana or Hoosier on it. It was a travesty; I couldn't believe it. Even if I did want to go tailgating, I wouldn't have anything to wear. And for someone like me, that is an absolute nightmare. Something had to be done. \nI came up with a few ideas to show some fashionable school spirit. The first idea is an oldie but goodie and it is always a lot of fun. While you usually see half-naked guys wearing body paint at IU games, I thought to myself that a girl who doesn't want to go half-naked can always paint her clothes. Painting your clothes allows limitless possibilities. You can paint Indiana down the leg of a pair of jeans, sweatpants or on the rear end of a pair of pants. You can also buy shirts and paint those. Decorate them with the name and number of your favorite football player, and cheer like a madwoman. \nOr you can take a more complicated, but more fashionable, approach:\n1. Take an extra-large T-shirt and bring the neckline down over you chest. It might take a little bit of stretching, but it works, \n2. Tie the sleeves into a knot in the back. \n3. Cut a half- or inch-wide strip off the bottom of the shirt. It should tear off once you make the first snip. Then cut the strip in half. \n4. Cut two small holes in the neckline of the shirt, one on each side. Bring one of the strips cut off the shirt through one of the holes and knot it, leaving enough string to tie around your neck. Repeat knotting the string on the other side, and you have a halter top with the word Indiana on the front. \nThe shirt should mimic an empire waist. \nAnother variation of the same shirt is more like the Tarzan shirt.\n1. Stretch out the neckline enough to get it to fit under one arm. The other side should be around your neck. \n2. Cut off a half-inch to inch-wide strip from around the bottom of the T-Shirt. It should tear off easily.\n3. Cut off the sleeve that isn't on your arm and cut down the side seam. The shirt should be open on that side. \n4. Cut about five very small holes down each side of the slit. It should look like shoelace holes. \n5. Take the strip from step 2 and tie the shirt on the side like a corset.\n6. Cut the remaining sleeve so the pieces hang off your shoulder like decorative slashing.\nPaint each shirt with decorative IU signs and numbers, and you should be ready for the game. Wear with a cardigan if it is a little chilly outside. \nThere you have it: Patrice's fashionable football game attire.