The Shirt Dress Halter ???

It’s your freshman year, and you and your absolute best friend of two weeks are hitting the bookstore just before the first game day with one goal in mind: The Shirt. You carefully select a men's medium, and the next morning, you put it on, ready to slay the day and excited to match with your classmates. Your excitement only lasts a few minutes, though, because as soon as you exit your room you realize you’ve majorly missed the memo. This isn’t a shirt. It’s unclear what it really is, but it certainly isn’t a shirt. On your harrowing walk to the tailgates, you’re overwhelmed by the endless ways this miraculous piece of fabric can be transformed. Never fear — over the next few years, you’ll become an expert at devising innovative interpretations of The Shirt that, while seemingly original, have become game day classics.

 

The boat neck

This style is the gateway drug into shirt modification addiction. A simple and easy-to-execute design, this shirt pairs well with an exciting bottom (by Notre Dame standards, this includes anything that isn’t a white tennis skirt or light-wash denim). You can often find this style on your most fashionable friend — you know, the one whose closet is seemingly endless and who owns at least three options of chunky earrings to complement her gaping neckline. Watch out for this friend though, and make sure she alternates between exposed shoulders, or at the very least puts some sunscreen on that free one.

 

The classic crop

Are you a freshman or just lazy? That’s how it feels to rock this style, as an experienced wearer myself. You know you didn’t have an outfit planned until morning of the game, and everyone else knows it too. If you’re especially lucky, you’ve cropped it a little too short to be a regular shirt, but left it too long to be a cute crop. Don’t worry though, at least you tried, and you can wear a bra, which, let’s be honest, for a 10-hour game day, is a huge win.

 

The dress

A real shock to the system when you first see it, but an absolute classic a few years in. The girls wearing this style should all be in the College of Engineering. The ingenuity required to take a men’s 2XL shirt and turn it into a strapless dress without making a single cut is as much a testament to the minds of Notre Dame students as it is to the strength of fashion tape. The knotted, extra-long sleeves in the back knock off a few points from this look, but pair it with a cute jacket that will have you melting three minutes into the first quarter, and you’re good to go!

 

The baby tee

Ignore the weird looks you might get and head straight to the youth section to achieve this look! A good rule of thumb is the smaller the better, so grab that 3T and try it on (no one needs to know if it rips a little in the dressing room). You’ll know you’ve gone small enough when your arms are glued to your sides because of those tiny, delicate sleeves. Love your posture, queen! This style also gives you a little extra pop of uniqueness because as close as the design might be to the original, there’s always something a little off that’ll make people wonder, “Wait, was that made for a young child?”

 

The sunburn outline

Good work, you have almost made it through the game! There’s only one quarter left, but as you finally find your seat again after your disorienting trip to the bathroom, you encounter the scariest shirt yet… the final boss. There are few things as universal among Notre Dame students as a propensity for a sunburn. And as the fourth quarter starts, shirts come off and the outlines come out. This style is characterized by a crisp smiley face of red around the back of the neck — two matching ones around the arms add a nice touch, as well. The actual fabric of the shirt is a perfect representation of how you yourself feel at the end of this game day: crumpled up, worn out and absolutely drenched in sweat.