Cheerleader
fashions through the years
As these
photos from North Texas yearbooks demonstrate, cheerleader fashions
have definitely changed through the decades. In addition to following
popular trends, the outfits reflect a switch in the main focus
of cheerleading — from yelling to tumbling. No matter what
uniforms they wore on the sidelines, however, North Texas alumni
who were cheerleaders agree on one thing — they were proud
to represent North Texas while wearing them. Click on the images
for a larger version.
1920s
to the 1960s
From
the 1920s until the 1960s, both male and female cheerleaders
wore modest uniforms that showed little skin. Men wore long
pants while women wore full skirts with lengths that ranged
from the mid-calf in the 1940s and ’50s to the knee in
the 1960s.
1920s |
1930s |
1940s |
1950s |
1960s |
1970s
Hemlines
for women’s outfits continued to rise, and in the 1970s,
the uniform for both men and women became less formal. Turtlenecks
often replaced cotton shirts, and by the mid-1970s, women cheerleaders
were even wearing shorts — short bib overalls with white
knee socks.
1980s
and 1990s
By the
1980s, cheerleaders needed uniforms that allowed movement for
tumbling. Women began wearing sleeveless, midriff-baring tops
with very short skirts. Men wore short-sleeved shirts and sometimes
wore shorts instead of the long pants that had been popular
for decades.
1980s |
1990s |
Today
North
Texas cheerleaders today wear a variation of the streamlined
uniforms introduced in the 1980s.
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