Out of the Blue: EU’s Newest Sweater Trend

On a campus where we are surrounded by different colors such as blue, dark blue, and even darker blue, anything slightly out of the ordinary drives people wild. The second something isn’t navy, students do whatever they can to get their paws on that item. That’s right people, I’m talking about the Spirit Shop and their new trend of non-blue Champion crewneck sweaters.

It started back in summer of 2023 when a baby pink crewneck hit the scene, coinciding with the release of the Barbie movie. It returned the following October, then again in November, and even made an appearance in January 2024. There were a lot of people embracing their inner Barbie during the Fall 2023 semester. Not a single Ken in sight.

But what could possibly come next? The baby pink had to have been the peak, right? Like a one hit wonder? Wrong. Kelly green hit the scene in March 2024, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. I saw so much green on campus, there is no chance someone got pinched by a leprechaun. Two Elmhurst sweatshirt releases that weren’t blue? Get out of town!

To kick off the 2024-2025 school year, hot pink hit the scene in August and made a reappearance in late October. But something else was special about October. Oh yes that’s right, orange crept around for Halloween. It was loud, it was bright, and it was festive. For those who bought the orange sweater, I admire your bravery, because not a lot of people can pull off orange. I see some of you on the top of the new Health Science building placing bricks.

But wait, there’s more! This past March introduced dark green for St. Patrick’s Day. I’d argue this was more popular than the Kelly green sweater. It’s moody, it’s subtle, but it’s irresistible, like the green M&M (white high heels not included). I must confess, this one is my personal favorite. The sweater, not the M&M… okay maybe the M&M too.

Last but certainly not least, there’s lilac. Where do I even begin… you guys went crazy for lilac. It was released at 9am on April 7 and sold out before 2pm. That is the quickest a sweater ever sold out at the Spirit Shop. There were people waiting outside the store before it even opened!

Rumor has it, people were sleeping outside the shop the night before, all for a sweater. It was so popular that they started giving “I went to the Spirit Shop and all I got was this lousy t-shirt” shirts to those who missed out.

About two weeks later, it appeared once again, and half the stock was already gone. By the time you read this article, those will be gone too. And yes, I am wearing mine as I write this. And no, you can’t borrow it.

As the academic year comes to an end, we all eagerly wait in anticipation to see what color is next. Will it be red? Yellow? Dark purple? Something really out of this world, like blue?

Regardless of the color, it’ll sell. Some people collect Beanie Babies, others collect Squishmallows, but Elmhurst students collect various sweaters with the exact same font, just in a different color that isn’t blue.