Jim Tressel's sweater vest has come to symbolize not only him and Ohio State, but his style of coaching and personality.
Jim Tressel's sweater vest reflects the buttoned-down personality of the Ohio State coach -- who famously didn't crack a smile after receiving the Rose Bowl trophy last January.HUT-HUT COUTURE
Ohio State’s Jim Tressel is known far and wide for his sweater vest, a fashion statement that almost perfectly describes the man. He’s not the first college football choice to say a lot with his fashion choice:
Bobby Bowden, Florida State
Fashion: Straw hat. Bowden added it in the final decade of his career on doctor’s orders to protect his face against the sun.
Paul “Bear” Bryant, Alabama
Fashion: Houndstooth hat. Alabama ordered a 550-pound version of the hat to place on a stadium concession stand two years ago.
Woody Hayes, Ohio State
Fashion: Short-sleeved white shirt. The style, paired with a Block O cap, looked best in the snow, and Ohio State fans know the photo that may be the most famous of Hayes. He gave into a red jacket in the cold starting in 1969, but not without a fight.
Joe Paterno, Penn State
Fashion: Black glasses. Full outfit includes rolled-up khakis and black sneakers, but it’s a pair of the glasses that fetched $9,000 at a charity auction last year.
Nick Saban, Alabama
Fashion: Frown. Showed it off during the celebration of the Crimson Tide’s national title in January, when he looked like he just lost by 40 points.
Bo Schembechler, Michigan
Fashion: Blue cap with yellow M. When Michigan’s Cardiovascular Center unveiled a Schembechler bust last year, it was wearing the cap. His son wore it while delivering his father’s eulogy.
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Fashion: Visor. Coaches everywhere wear the visor now, but Spurrier was a trailblazer. He and Paterno made a bet on the 1998 Citrus Bowl, with the loser having to wear the other’s iconic fashion. Florida won, Spurrier put the visor on Paterno’s head, but it didn’t last long.
— Doug Lesmerises
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Tom Landry was known for a fedora perched atop his head, a classic symbol of his old-school reliability and authority on the sidelines.
Joe Paterno has those enormous, thick eyeglasses that never go out of style in his never-ending Penn State world.
Bear Bryant had his own jaunty houndstooth hat, a merging of vintage and modern at Alabama.
So it makes sense that if there is to be one visual representation of Ohio State coach Jim Tressel after 10 years with the Buckeyes, it would be something as staid and buttoned-up as he is: The sweater vest.
Simple in its style, elegant in its execution, the sweater vest has come to symbolize all that is Ohio State football in the Tressel Era.
It's old-school. It's authoritative. It's the style of football that the Buckeyes play on the field, and a representation of the leader who stalks the sidelines each game.
"No matter how you feel about the vest, it fits him," said Susan Luc, co-owner of Hudson-based Shop Your Closet.
Luc isn't referring to the size of the vest, though the image consultant does say that the vest is suited for Tressel's "trim" body type. She assesses whether someone's personal style is right by reviewing three categories: whether it fits the person's body type, their personal style and their lifestyle.
"He does have a particular style," Ohio State President Gordon Gee said. "He wears a vest and he wears a tie. How many coaches do you see who are so clearly in charge on the sidelines and as buttoned-down as Jim is? I think that's the way he lives his life."
In essence, Tressel is his sweater vest. It's as much a part of him as Landry's fedora was, as Paterno's thick glasses. Wear a sweater vest to a game as a fan, and everyone assumes you're rooting for the Buckeyes.
Or, if you grab one of John Amato's T-shirts on jupmode.com, wear just half the sweater vest. Amato capitalized on Tressel's fashion choice by creating the sweater vest T-shirt -- the front half of a sweater vest sewn onto a T-shirt with a silk-screened tie positioned beneath the vest fabric.
Amato has started a small sweater vest empire, churning out baby onesies, bibs, drink koozies and soon will doggie sweater vests.
"It's actually such a novelty item with Ohio State," said Amato, a Toledo native who graduated from Notre Dame. "And because coach Tressel is so iconic, in particular. He's a guy who has been there a long time, and has done very well. He's a class act. Even if you're a supporter of a different school, you have to respect that."
Chad Zumock didn't attend Ohio State, either, but he respects both Tressel and the sweater vest. The comedian owns 61 sweater vests and wears them on all occasions. With short-sleeves in the summer. With long-sleeves in the winter. Plaid and solid, in earth tones and even pink.
When he saw Tressel committed to the sweater vest at Ohio State -- with red reserved for when the team is in white, and gray for when the team uniform is red so he's easily spotted -- Zumock realized that the Buckeyes were headed toward years of success.
"Basically I saw that he's committed to winning as soon as I saw him wearing that sweater vest," Zumock said. "He thinks like a champion. You gotta dress for success."