What Gameday Fashion Trends Say About the US Economy
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Edited by Arya Kumar, Elizabeth Adams, Owen Andrews, and Sarah Ahmad
As a UVA student, it was hard to miss our school's unprecedented 46-38 win against the Florida State Seminoles with the outpouring of Instagram posts celebrating the win. However, one cannot help but notice the somewhat repetitive nature of these gameday outfits. Whether it be a flowy, white maxi skirt paired with a chunky belt, or even a strapless denim dress with a pair of large sunglasses, these seemingly cyclical fashion trends spotted across Scott Stadium reveal more about the state of the U.S. economy than you may think.
While the connection may seem outlandish at first glance, there has always been a correlation between the fashion and finance sectors. The economy determines clothing prices, which in turn affects consumers' buying decisions and how they decide to dress. Especially amidst widespread social media usage, fashion trends are easier to track than ever before. Many online creators have begun dubbing resurfaced fashion trends from the late 2000s, like skinny jeans, peplum tops, and even middle parts, as “recession indicators,” and some historical theories appear to be on their side.
The National Bureau of Economic Research defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months,” and prominent economists all across the country have grown increasingly concerned that the US could enter another recession by the end of 2025, with some economic forecasters predicting a more severe downturn than 2008. Last quarter's 3.8% increase in GDP has persuaded other financial analysts that a recession is not in the country's future, but many still believe that we are not out of the woods just yet. The Trump administration’s ongoing tariff war has driven up the prices of goods for consumers by 2.7%, according to the Consumer Price Index, alongside a 0.4% increase in the apparel index during June 2025 alone, which reflects rising clothing costs for consumers. Concerns for a foreseeable recession are certainly being debated, and they’re taking the fashion sector along with them.
One popular theory across fashion history, as it relates to the American economy, is the Hemline Index. Formulated by economist George Taylor in 1926, the theory suggests that hemline lengths on women’s apparel are indicative of how prosperous or stagnant the nation’s economy may be. Shorter skirt lengths indicate good economic prospects, and longer skirts represent the reverse. According to this logic, present gameday trends of maxi skirts and floor-length dresses would be a reflection of the country’s poor economic health. While the fashion and finance correlation is not actually as simple as the Hemline Index predicts, experts like fashion psychologist Dr. Dawnn Karen also point to the psychological effects of living in a more conservative America, which encourages dressing modestly; hence, the resurgence of the peplum tops across runways that have trickled down into gameday fashion trends.
Another popular theory looks at purchasing decisions themselves. The rise in minimalist clothing aesthetics and pieces that exude a more quiet luxury could be reflective of the economic realities many Americans are currently facing. Fashion Institute of Technology Fashion Business Management Professor Vincent Quan notes the increase in consumers “purchasing value-priced items [as a haven] from fashion trends.” In other words, the push toward longer silhouettes and muted colors in recent gameday outfits demonstrates efforts to both hide indicators of one’s wealth on an individual level and promote homogeneous styles that everyone can take part in on a larger scale. This resurgence of minimalism – a key characteristic of fashion trends that took off in 2008 – as a microtrend among many others, reveals a shift in consumer purchasing decisions. Seeing as fewer people are willing or able to spend more money on higher-end clothing, fast fashion has skyrocketed to new highs, with fashion industry revenues as a whole having grown by 20% from 2020 to 2022 alone. Subsequently, more consumers are engaging in the “lipstick index,” coined by Leonard Lauder of Estée Lauder in 2001, where they are more likely to purchase smaller luxuries instead of larger designer items in the face of a recession. This can be seen in the blue polka dot set from Shein, accessorized with bracelets from Enewton and necklaces from Tiffany & Co., worn by several students last gameday.
The final way in which recent fashion trends could be connected to the current economic state of the country would be the revival of specific patterns. Both polka dots and denim have strong ties to the mid-19th-century economic booms experienced all across the country and produce this sense of nostalgia that reminds people of a better time amidst declining economic health. Hoping to provide consumer reassurance and greater optimism, Marc Jacobs and Valentino decided to put polka dots on the runway immediately following the infamous 2008 recession, momentarily distracting people from the financial turmoil of the time. Other designers like Balenciaga and Celine echoed this effort on the runway following the COVID-19 pandemic “[to] show, through the youth [and] optimism, the hope [in] this uncertain time,” according to creative director Hedi Slimane. Trickling all the way down to the stands of Scott Stadium, college students continue to display Slimane’s sentiments every gameday in their polka dot maxi dresses and gingham peplum tops.
Although there is some truth to this correlation between recent fashion trends and the future economic state of the US, it is important to note that the nation is technically not in a recession and to take terms coined online like “recession indicators” with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, it does serve as an interesting case study into how fashion historically can represent economic trends and the effects that policies ultimately have on consumers and the way they decide to dress themselves as a result. Who knows what students will be wearing to UVA gamedays one year from now? Will the hemlines get shorter? Will mass Shein orders decrease? Only time and the future of American economic policies will tell.