Hurricanes colors have long been a staple of gameday attire, but the way fans wear them has evolved through the years.
At the UM tailgates, traditional T-shirts and baseball hats have been increasingly overshadowed by bikini tops, miniskirts, cowboy boots, rhinestone accessories, cropped jerseys and matching sets.
In 1991, a green satin-style windbreaker with orange-and-green striped trim was paired with dark-wash skinny jeans with a white trucker hat and black aviator sunglasses.
In 2025, a dark green Miami baseball jersey hangs open over a white cropped top and tennis skirt and orange and green beads drape over.
“On game day you can see anything from hand crocheted shorts to guys with fully painted bodies and swim shorts,” said sophomore Emma Yoffe, photographed below:
But gameday attire didn’t always look like this.
The Hurricanes won four national championship games between 1983 and 1991, making the U one of college football’s most recognizable symbols. Game day for students and fans was about showing up for the team they loved.
In 1991, UM threw a parade to celebrate the national championship. Photos from the parade show fans decked out in green and white polos, oversized Hurricanes T-shirts, high-waisted jean shorts, trucker hats and everything the U.
Today, students still wear plenty of UM merch, but each outfit comes with more pressure and planning.
“At my school, I feel like we all wear T-shirts and jeans or skirts. And then once it gets cold, we bundle up in school sweatshirts or puffers,” said Jordan Pollner, a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island, who visited Miami last fall for the Homecoming game versus Syracuse.
“But in Miami, people went all out, like I saw multiple girls wearing bedazzled bikinis and hand-sewed crop tops. There was a lot of effort put into all the game day outfits.” Pollner explained.
However, the evolution of game day fashion goes beyond geography. Social media has shaped how students discover and display what they wear.
Before social media, a student’s game day outfit was primarily seen by the people around them. Now, it can end up on someone’s Instagram story before the game has even started.
Julia Thomas, a UM sophomore and influencer, posted a TikTok captioned “GRMW for UMiami First Gameday,” showing her doing her makeup and slipping into a white mini skirt and white tanktop with spray painted lettering of “Go Canes.” She then paired the outfit with matching orange sneakers..
The video has since received nearly 280,800 views and more than 30,000 likes.
UM alumni and influencer Alix Earle also helped spark this transition in game-day style. Earle, who has 5.9 million followers on Instagram, posted photos in 2020 captioned “Miami tailgate attire: bikini top and cheer skirts.”
Social media influence is not just about getting ideas. It also means students constantly see what everyone else is wearing and try to keep up with trends.
The colors are still orange and green. Football is still the reason everyone is at the game. But somewhere along the way, game-day outfits became part of the experience, too.