Sports scrapbook
From briefs to boxers, from sweaters to short skirts, sports fashions have come a long way over the years.
All photos courtesy of University archives
Basketball uniforms a history in briefs
By Cathleen Siechta
Kansan staff writer
When Bill Lienhard watched the Michigan Wolverines' Jalen Rose on the basketball court last week, he wondered how Rose kept his pants up.
"His pants were hanging below his knees," Lienhard said. "It looked just awful. But I guess that's what the kids like these days."
But Lienhard, a member of the Jaya-
hawks' 1952 team, may have looked
awful by today's standards in the
tight, belted shorts and knee socks
he wore when his team won the
National Championship.
The game may have stayed the same, but basketball uniforms have undergone an almost humorous evolution.
"The uniforms were about as brief as they could be when I coached," said Dick Harp, who was Lienhard's coach in the 1950s. "But they're really almost too long now. My personal preference would be to have the shorts hit the players about mid-thigh."
Lienhard agreed.
"My feeling is that the older uniforms with the shorter pants allowed a lot more freedom on the court," Lienhard said. "The tops of the uniforms haven't changed that much, but boy, those pants are baggy. I wouldn't want them bangging around my knees like that."
But the baggy style is hot these
days, and inseams keep getting longer.
Wesley Haynes, vice president of marketing for Russell athletic wear, said that in addition to requesting longer inseams, players who have a 34-inch waist will order shorts with a 40-inch waist and depend on the drawstrings alone to hold up their shorts.
"It's pretty amazing," Haynes said. "In terms of sizing, it's unlike anything I've ever seen. But it's also the trend in street fashion. Quite honestly, I think Michael Jordan started this trend when he played in college, and it's just continued in basketball and into casual wear."
Haynes said that today's styles are a far cry from the canvas high tops and form-hugging jerseys worn in the past. However, he said athletic wear manufacturers will continue to produce uniforms in the styles athletes prefer.
At the end of their junior year, Kansas basketball players choose the style of the uniforms for their senior year. They decide on fashion factors such as how long they want their shorts, whether to have trim on the shorts and shoe color.
Lienhard said that even basketball foot wear has come a long way.
"Probably the worst thing about our old uniforms was those red shoes we had to wear," said Lienhard. "But I still think those looked better than those black ones that they wear now."
Cheering uniforms: a short evolution
By Kevin Hoffmann
Kansan staff writer
By yelling, cheering and dancing, cheerleaders have supported KU teams for over 70 years.
Over those years changes have taken place, both in the cheers and in the cheerleaders' uniforms.
Dick Wintermote, former director of the Alumni Association and cheerleader at the University from 1946 through 1949, has witnessed the change from long dresses and white sweaters to short skirts and sequins.
"Pep uniforms go with the styles and fads," he said. "When I was in school the girls wore their skirts to the ankles and full sweaters."
Winternote said he thought styles had changed as the number of people involved in cheerleading grew.
Wintermote said that today's close-fitting uniforms might have been considered risque in years past but that they fit today's athletic cheerleading styles.
"They (the uniforms) are stylish, they're sporty and they're probably more appropriate for sports these days," he said. "They probably would have gotten chased off the court 50 years ago."
Wintermote said cheerleading uniforms played an important role in attracting fans.
"An awful lot of people, particularly during football, come for the
pageantry," he said. "The bands, the cheerleaders, the color of the fall games, that's all a part of football."
Elaine Brady, advisor of the spirit squad, said cheerleader's uniforms played a dual role.
"The men's and women's uniforms didn't even match," she said. "So I got involved in some fund raising and got some uniforms that were more up to date."
"The uniforms that they wear are entertaining and provide flexibility for the moves that they do," she said.
While coaching for the cheerleading squad, Brady has witnessed changes in uniform styles, especially in the ones worn by the Crimson Girls.
Brady has been with KU cheerleading since 1984. When she came to the University, she saw an immediate need for change in the squad's uniforms.
"The cheerleaders' uniforms haven't changed much," she said.
"The Crimson Girls' uniforms though, have changed from a basic cheerleader's uniform to the sequins and sparkles you have today."
Cheerleading fashion may have gone from modest to more revealing styles in the past 70 years, but Brady said she didn't foresee any major changes in upcoming years.
"They've worn the same style of uniforms for an awful long time," she said.
1940s; Lana skirts and Peter Pan collars were popular.
1950s; Tightie whities were standard basketball attire.
1960s: Cheerleading shirts were getting shorter ...
1970s: Uniforms weren't the only things to change with the times. Hairstyles evolved as well.
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
EXHIBITIONS AND LECTURES
Exhibition - "The Sleep of Reason: Reality and Fantasy in the print series of Goya," Jan. 9 -
Feb. 20 at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Exhibition - Dennis Oppenheim: Drawings and Selected Sculpture, Jan. 16 - Feb. 27 at the Spencer Museum of Art.
Exhibition - Eric Weldman: Oil Painting and Drawings, Jan. 3 - Jan. 31 at the University of Kansas Regents Center, 12600 Quivira Road.
Exhibition - Sculpture by Douglas Warnock,
Jan. 22 - Feb. 10 at The Lawrence Arts Center,
200 W. Ninth St.
Lecture - The Forma Viva and Razes of Slovenia by Sculptor David Vertacnik, 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at The Lawrence Arts Center, 200 w. Ninth St.
program - "Women of Color: Self-Image sponsored by The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, 7 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Pine Room in the Kansas Union.
PERFORMANCES
Inge Theater Series: "Gammer Gurton's Needle" by Mr. S., Master of Art and Ralph Rolster Dolster, 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Monday; 8 p.m. Tuesday and Feb. 2 at the Inge Theater in Murphy Hall. $6 public, $3 KU students, $5 senior citizens and other students.
KU Department of Music and Dance: Faculty Plano recital by Jack Winerock, 7:30 p.m. Monday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
MARCH 21, 2017
KU Department of Music and Dance: Master's Recital by Lee Lee Chong, plano, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
KU Department of Music and Dance: Visiting Artists Series: Algirdas Budrys, clarinet, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at Swarthout Recital Hall.
Renegade Theater Company of Lawrence presents "East Side Comedy Shop," 8 p.m. Friday and 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday at Renegade Theater, 518 E. Eighth St. $5 public.
Lawrence Community Theater presents "Three Men on a Horse," 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and a 2:30 matinee Sunday at the theater, 1501 New Hampshire St. $10 public, $9 students and senior citizens Friday and Saturday; $8 public, $7 students and senior citizens Sunday.
The New Theater Restaurant presents "Blioxi Blues," 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 at The New Theater Restaurant, 9222 Foster, Overland Park, Kan. $17.95 public.