After a hot summer full of long days, extended adventures, and a shifting routine, there are many reasons to welcome the start of fall. The weather starts to cool down, school and regular schedules begin anew, and wardrobe changes are made. A welcome change for many is the return of long sleeves: jackets, sweaters, and sweatshirts. As you welcome sweatshirts back into your repertoire, consider these ideas for making yours stand out among the sea of wearers around you.
Customize for Back-to-School
For kids and young adults, fall marks back-to-school season. Depending on the age of the youngster, this can be a season of high excitement, or one of dread. Either way, consider making the time a happier one with a high-quality and durable customized sweatshirt.
For younger children, a sweatshirt customized with a name and a favorite character or object could serve the dual purpose of (a) creating something they are excited to wear to school each day, and (b) creating an item that is impossible to lose or confuse for another classmate’s—a common problem in childhood classrooms.
In later years, your child may not want to do this. No problem, for college is a place that undoubtedly appreciates a good sweatshirt! Consider embroidering a blank crew-neck or hoodie with your college-bound student’s college crest (work with an embroiderer to determine how you’ll license such an image) and their name, creating an unforgettable keepsake that will stay with them during their college career.
Commemorate Fall Traditions
As fall arrives across the country, a unique set of pastimes comes along with it: apple picking, hayrides, football tailgate season, playoff baseball, and many more! For many, these events are traditions spent with a close-knit crew of friends. How about helping that core group stand apart from others with customized sweatshirts? Make your tailgate compound the envy of those around you with screen printed full zip hoodies (so jerseys can be worn underneath), or consider a collection of reds, yellows, and greens for an annual apple picking outing.
If these traditions include travel or vacation of any kind, these sweatshirts could serve an additional purpose: group identification and “wrangling.” Large groups can often be difficult to keep together or keep track of; however, narrowing your search in a horde of people to a specific design or screen print can make that search for a missing member of the group far easier. In that moment, a sweatshirt can stop being a fashion statement and start being a life-saver!
Celebrate Homecoming Season
In keeping with the commemoration of fall traditions, homecoming and the festivities associated with it is one tradition that is particularly sentimental for many. Whether you’re hoping to cement the bonds of friendship with your core group at your current school, or planning a reunion of old friends to root for your alma mater, a customized sweatshirt to show your allegiances could help provide the additional group unity you’ve been searching for.
A gathering of friends, especially after years apart, is always something to celebrate. Why not supplement that celebration with a ready-made keepsake, one that will spark memories of the date in question with each subsequent wearing?
Not ready to commit to screen printing or embroidering for a group? That’s okay. If you have at one or two crafty friends in the group, there are a number of DIY ideas that can be created on these sweatshirts to outfit a group in style.
Honor Family and Togetherness
With Thanksgiving to round out the fall season, it is a time that marks the kickoff of family season. Friends and family travel long distances to celebrate one another, and having something special to await someone who has traveled all day—something cozy and comfortable in which to do some hard-earned sleeping—would be so welcome.
Further, the sweatshirt collection could expand and “travel” (handed down to younger or smaller family members as children grow) as the group ages over time. Imagine such a progression, caught over years of family photos, changing throughout the years as individuals age, but ultimately held together with the constancy of a single line of sweatshirts.
For years to come, those sweatshirts could come to symbolize the bonds of a family—nuclear or chosen—that comes together one special weekend a year.
Of course, we always love to hear your ideas, so don’t let the brainstorming stop here. Let us know what fall festivities you’d make sweatshirts for! And, when you’re ready to place the orders that could start this process for your family or an eager client, our talented and thoughtful staff is ready to help you kick off fall in the right way!
