Anonymous wrote:I'm starting this thread because it's an off-topic spin-off that's taking over another thread. Trying to give the original thread some oxygen. Here are some of the key comments so far ...

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So if mom or dad went to Syracuse it is ok to deck the kid in orange head to toe, but if they went to Harvard then school gear is obnoxious? Why can't someone who went to a top school give their kid school clothing? That alone isn't obnoxious.

Had this exact conversation with someone last week. Other person’s view is that the Harvard parent needs to recognize that lots of people will think it’s obnoxious to wear Harvard gear because it could be viewed as bragging, but no one would think it’s obnoxious to wear Syracuse gear because no one would ever brag about Syracuse.

It is obnoxious to wear your elite college gear any place but the gym. That is my philosophy. It is stupid to compare wearing Harvard gear with schools that have good sports teams, Michigan, Cal, etc. The only reason to wear ivy gear is to brag. It is low class and is considered as such at our school.

I’m going to take it a step further and say it’s obnoxious to wear your elite college gear, period.

You know what? The only people who care are those who are envious and insecure. DH and I are both Ivy grads. Our kids wear them because it's part of our family traditions. They have visited our schools, including during alumni week, and know that many of our oldest friends are from those schools, too.

It's quite obnoxious to suggest that UVA or Penn State grads can happily tout their school loyalties, while Harvard, Yale, and Princeton folks who do so must be snobs.

My entire immediate family went to ivies or Stanford (some of us "lower ivies," but ivies still). My sister regularly attends the drunken Princeton reunions. My dad goes to Penn homecoming. My brother gives lectures at Stanford as a notable alum. So we get it. But if you cannot see at all how wearing this stuff could be perceived by some as snobby, that is unfortunate. It is like the dorks who still use their alumni accounts. Be a grown up. Leave some of that behind.

Yes, totally agree as a general matter that anyone who is still wrapping himself in college gear 10 years after graduation need to turn the page. But I think lots of people have college spirit and fond memories of those times, so they do it regardless.

The question here - I think - is why it's generally considered socially acceptable for a Maryland grad or even a Georgetown grad to wear college gear, but offensive for an Ivy grad to do the same thing. I know Ivy grads with lots of genuine school spirit and fond memories, but it seems they have to be careful about wearing their college gear for fear someone else will judge them as bragging. I think it's really mostly about the fact that lots of people have insecurities about where other people went to college.

Maybe be should start a list ...

Ivy or Stanford - totally unacceptable to wear because you might be bragging
Duke or UVA - obnoxious, don't do it
MIT or CalTech - ok to wear because it's just so nerdy?
Navy or West Point - ok because it's a military school?
any other state school - fine
any small liberal arts college - no problem because they're so obscure?

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Anonymous wrote:I know a few who went to crummy undergrads and respectable grads schools, so they have a closet full of apparel with grad school’s name. So desperate and pathetic. Anyone over 25 wearing college apparel is a loser. Grow up Peter Pan.

my grad school program was more selective than any undergrad program in the US

No one cares.

The person who hired her did.

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Anonymous wrote:I know a few who went to crummy undergrads and respectable grads schools, so they have a closet full of apparel with grad school’s name. So desperate and pathetic. Anyone over 25 wearing college apparel is a loser. Grow up Peter Pan.

my grad school program was more selective than any undergrad program in the US

No one cares.

The person who hired her did.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few who went to crummy undergrads and respectable grads schools, so they have a closet full of apparel with grad school’s name. So desperate and pathetic. Anyone over 25 wearing college apparel is a loser. Grow up Peter Pan.

my grad school program was more selective than any undergrad program in the US

No one cares.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know a few who went to crummy undergrads and respectable grads schools, so they have a closet full of apparel with grad school’s name. So desperate and pathetic. Anyone over 25 wearing college apparel is a loser. Grow up Peter Pan.

my grad school program was more selective than any undergrad program in the US

Anonymous wrote:Just ordered a Harvard sweatshirt online. I’m a high school dropout. Thanks DCUM.

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Anonymous wrote:I am an old lady who was in the first graduating class that included women at the University of Notre Dame. Damn straight I still wear my Notre Dame sweatshirt.

Lol- but we all also wore ND gear all the time while we were attending the school. My friends from other colleges thought it was so odd that half my wardrobe was made up of ND/Irish gear to wear at ND itself.
- Woman who graduated 20 years after you (when the blue sweatshirt with the gold IRISH was apparently required)

Anonymous wrote:I know a few who went to crummy undergrads and respectable grads schools, so they have a closet full of apparel with grad school’s name. So desperate and pathetic. Anyone over 25 wearing college apparel is a loser. Grow up Peter Pan.

Anonymous wrote:I am an old lady who was in the first graduating class that included women at the University of Notre Dame. Damn straight I still wear my Notre Dame sweatshirt.

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Anonymous wrote:I have two degrees from Harvard. When I want to pull rank at a casual social event, I’ll wear an old sweatshirt. This happens very rarely, though.

How do you pull rank with an old sweatshirt? Doing keg stands?