Proper attire for the press box

[TomVince123]

What's the proper attire for a press box? I have seen jeans and suits. What is professional ?

 

[Jake_Taylor]

What's the proper attire for a press box? I have seen jeans and suits. What is professional ?

You're going to have to be more specific. What are you covering?

 

[TomVince123]

Maybe someone can outline different events

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Covering an NCAA Super Regional today in 90-degree heat and high humidity, go ahead and wear a golf shirt and khaki shorts. College or pro basketball or football, I usually wear a dress shirt and slacks, sometimes a tie. High school football, polo shirt and jeans is beyond fine.

 

[Riptide]

If you're wearing flip-flops in a press box
– or in a newsroom – you look like a lazy slob.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

If you're wearing flip-flops in a press box
– or in a newsroom – you look like a lazy slob.

Especially if there is fungus on them.

 

[spikechiquet]

<img src="http://www.spencersonline.com/images/spencers/products/interactivezoom/processed/07109143.interactive.a.jpg">

It says: "Yes, I consider this a serious event, but I like to have fun."


There are A LOT of discussions about this in the past. You'll get tons of "advice" if you keyword a few things like "attire" "pressbox" and "khakis".

I would say not to dress for the beach or your wedding. Anything in the middle is acceptable. I covered a "power conference" football/basketball team for a few years and basically did jeans, golf shirts, button ups with no tie and khakis with tennis shoes/boots and never got an awkward glance. The ones that did wore team apparel. NEVER wear that team's apparel, its lame.

 

[expendable]

I always tried to dress one level higher than I thought my counterparts would dress. This meant, at a minimum, a polo and khaki shorts for All-Stars and if it was over 80 or 85 degrees for high school baseball and softball. From there, it was a polo and khaki pants for most everything else on the high school level. For playoff basketball, I'd wear an oxford with khakis, and every now and then, I'd pull out a tie, or sport coat without the tie. I only wore a T-shirt on company time once, because it was all I had in the car after a 100 degree day and afternoon downpour rendered my golf shirt a smelly and wet mess. Even then, I tucked in my T-shirt. You can dress for comfort without dressing like you have just gotten off a three day bender. Even if you have just gotten off a three day bender.

 

[ColdCat]

NEVER wear that team's apparel, its lame.

also never wear the apparel of the OTHER team. I knew a photog who covered an NFL game while wearing the visiting team's jersey. That drew a lot of angry phone calls from the home team, especially since that was the year of Spygate.

meanwhile, what's proper attire for a courthouse?
http://www.standard.net/Staff-Columns/2014/06/06/Reporter-booted-from-court-for-bare-shoulders.html

 

[Batman]

I've covered a lot of things over the last 15 years, and I'm not sure I've ever seen a suit and tie worn by a reporter in a press box. Khakis and a decent collared shirt seem to be more than fine. That's what I normally wear to the office, and the press box is essentially an extension of that.
Most events, you can probably get away with a collared shirt and jeans, which is the way I go a lot of times for comfort's sake. The jeans allow you to wear tennis shoes, which are far easier to move around in if you have to climb stadium steps to get back to the press box or walk a mile to the car. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever turned me in to the press box fashion police.

Like spikechiquet and others said, the one real no-no is team apparel. Not only is it unprofessional, in some places it might get you kicked out of the press box.

 

[Mark2010]

I found that people will treat you more professionally when you dress professionally. But, yes, different attire for different occasions. If I'm covering a golf tournament and going to be doing a lot of walking in the sun, I'll dress in something suitable for walking. If I'm sitting in a press box at a hockey game, I'll dress a little nicer.

Obviously, wearing t-shirts with crude images or language would be a no-no. I'll usually wear golf shirts or polo shirts for outdoor events and button shirts for indoor events.

One former colleague was covering a local amateur golf tournament and the people at the club wouldn't let him in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I thought that was going a bit too far, although I probably would have opted for more traditional golf attire.

 

[playthrough]

If you ever get a free shirt from an event, bury it in your closet and don't ever wear it while working. Years ago I covered a junior golf tournament and after all was said and done on the last day, the organizer insisted on giving me and another guy a shirt with the organization's logo. It was a long day and I didn't want to spend one additional minute there, so I spared the donor a speech on press ethics and took the shirt. It survived a lot of days cutting the grass.

But the other guy covering the event wore that shirt darn near every time I saw him at another game. Lame.

 

[Batman]

If you ever get a free shirt from an event, bury it in your closet and don't ever wear it while working. Years ago I covered a junior golf tournament and after all was said and done on the last day, the organizer insisted on giving me and another guy a shirt with the organization's logo. It was a long day and I didn't want to spend one additional minute there, so I spared the donor a speech on press ethics and took the shirt. It survived a lot of days cutting the grass.

But the other guy covering the event wore that shirt darn near every time I saw him at another game. Lame.

Used to work with a guy whose free T-shirts became a staple of his wardrobe. Even worse than his fashion sense -- he'd often pair the T-shirts, tucked in, with khakis -- was his hygiene. He wore the T-shirts well past their prime. Pit stains, sweat stains, food stains, whatever, he kept on rocking them.

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

I wore shirt and tie when I covered NFL.
It was my boyhood dream come true and I wasn't going to look like a slob for it.
That's just me.

 

[Riptide]

Used to work with a guy whose free T-shirts became a staple of his wardrobe. Even worse than his fashion sense -- he'd often pair the T-shirts, tucked in, with khakis -- was his hygiene. He wore the T-shirts well past their prime. Pit stains, sweat stains, food stains, whatever, he kept on rocking them.

I think I work with that guy now. And his two roommates.

 

[Steak Snabler]

FYI, if you're covering a NASCAR race and planning on walking into the garage and/or pits, you can't wear shorts or open-toed shoes, even if it's 90 degrees outside.

 

[Football_Bat]

One thing I do is avoid wearing the colors of either team.

 

[Walter Lippmann]

No need for a tie for every event, but at least step up the attire on occasion. It won't kill anyone to wear nice pants/shoes, but it does make an impression, despite the naysayers who claim no one cares.

 

[Mark2010]

I wore shirt and tie when I covered NFL.
It was my boyhood dream come true and I wasn't going to look like a slob for it.
That's just me.

The commissioner appreciated the fact you wore a shirt.

The tie was optional, but it showed respect.

I have a tie with helmet pictures of NFL teams on it that I've worn to everything from NFL games to job interviews.

 

[PaperDoll]

One former colleague was covering a local amateur golf tournament and the people at the club wouldn't let him in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I thought that was going a bit too far, although I probably would have opted for more traditional golf attire.

If you're going to a private venue, check if there's a dress code. Most golf clubs have them -- no denim! collared shirts! -- and aren't those MLB rules still in effect?