Local businesses will get you game day ready

Fans tailgate before the UK vs. WKU football game at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, August 31, 2013. Photo by Tessa Lighty | Staff File Photo

Elle Smith

With football season well underway in the Commonwealth, fans have likely been working on their game day wardrobes.

Many people will be wearing Kentucky blue dresses or UK polo shirts on game days. Girls often match their dresses with a pair of cowgirl boots.

College game day attire varies all over the nation, but it is a Southern trend for college students to dress up in their best school-themed attire. Southerners take pride in many things, and college football is certainly one of them.

“We respect that this is an event,” sophomore Nora Danahy said. “We want to show off our school pride, and we want the teams to know that we take this seriously and support our student-athletes.”

Sophomore Cam Brown said he usually wears a UK polo and a pair of khakis to the football games. He said he dresses this way “to show [his] support and because it looks nice.”

As the trend for dressy “Caturday” attire has increased, area boutiques have taken notice. Bluetique, Figleaf and Rose and Lime are a few of the local boutiques who carry clothes catered toward women looking for that specific blue attire.

Not all fans treat game days like a formal event, however. For those fans, Shop Local Kentucky has game day attire that is a little more casual.

Shop Local Kentucky and self-titled “Chief Kentuckian” Rick Paynter said trends for game day attire change from year to year.

“We try to cater to emerging casual trends,” he said.

Paynter said he and the business, which is co-owned by his wife, communicated with customers through social media. The shop has a “crazy customer” following of more than 300,000 people across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, Paynter said.

Paynter said everything in the shop is made in North America and finished by Kentuckians at the Lexington warehouse.

“We are Kentucky’s homegrown apparel company,” Paynter said.

Shop Local Kentucky’s location on Woodland Avenue is convenient for UK Football fans attending games at Kroger Field, though Paynter said about 90 percent of sales come from online.