What Jewelry Is Appropriate to Wear to a College Football Tailgate and Then Dinner After

The short answer: Small, solid-metal pieces that read as jewelry first and team pride second — extra-small logo studs, a bar necklace or extra-small letter pendant on a fine chain, and one bracelet you can wash your hands in. Wear the big, obviously-a-football piece to the tailgate, take it off in the car, and everything else goes to dinner untouched.

We get a version of this question every fall, usually from someone with a noon kickoff, a 7:30 reservation, and no intention of changing clothes twice. The answer is not "buy two sets." It is "buy for dinner, then add one thing for the lot."

What actually changes between the tailgate and the restaurant?

Where the jewelry is seen, and from how far away.

• The tailgate is outdoors, in sun and heat, with sunscreen on your neck, a cup in your hand, and a lot of hugging people you have not seen since last season. Jewelry is seen from across a parking lot, if at all. Big and obviously-your-school works, and nobody is looking at the finish.
• Dinner is indoors, in lower light, seen from across a table against a collar or a neckline while you sit still. Scale and finish suddenly matter, and a pendant shaped like a football that was charming in the lot can read like a costume at the table.

Which pieces can go straight from the parking lot to the table?

On our sales floor we call it the two-jobs test. A piece passes if it clears three things:

1. It is solid metal — sterling silver or 10K/14K gold, not plated base metal. Heat, sunscreen, and a long day are exactly the conditions plating fails in.
2. The logo reads at arm's length, not across the lot. Our working cutoff is about 15 mm on the emblem itself: extra-small and small in LogoArt's sizing. Medium and large are for the game.
3. The shape is a jewelry shape — a bar, a stud, a letter, a bangle — rather than a sports shape like a football or a helmet.

The pieces that pass are boringly consistent: extra-small logo post earrings, a small bar necklace, an extra-small letter pendant on a fine chain, and a bar bracelet or a small-center bangle. They are also the pieces our customers tell us they wear to the game, the alumni dinner, and work on Monday — our own observation from the floor, not a survey.

What should you wear only to the tailgate?

The football. We mean that literally: the Sterling Silver University of Alabama Domed Letter A in Football Pendant is about $48, 19 mm by 17 mm, laser-cut, and unmistakably a football. In the lot it is exactly right — cheerful, visible in photos, a conversation starter. At a white tablecloth it is a lot. So it is the piece that comes off in the car.

Two things make that painless. First, LogoArt names pieces honestly: "Pendant" means the charm only, chain sold separately; "Necklace" means the chain is attached. This one needs a chain, and we would put it on a Sterling Silver Rhodium-Plated 2mm Rolo Chain (about $44, 16 inch) with the same bright finish so the two match. Second, a 2 mm rolo is a perfectly good necklace on its own. Pendant in the pocket, chain stays on, and nobody at dinner knows there was ever a football.

The wide-emblem bangle is the one that splits the room. The Sterling Silver Penn State Nittany Lion Small Center Wire Bangle is about $119: a 7-inch sterling wire with a hook clasp and a 17 by 24 mm lion at the center. The emblem is over our cutoff, but the wire and clasp read like a dress bracelet, and we would wear it to both. For a jacket-required dinner, choose the bar bracelet below instead.

What is the three-piece formula?

Ears, neck, wrist. Pick one piece per zone, wear two zones at most to dinner, and let the football swap in at the neck for the tailgate. Prices are "about," because gold and silver move; every stock count was read live from our site when this was written.

• Ears — extra-small logo studs. The 10K Yellow Gold University of Oklahoma O-U Extra Small Post Earrings are about $248, 9 mm by 7 mm, solid 10K gold on posts with push backs. The most work for the least attention: at the game, at dinner, at the office, and never taken off.
• Neck — a small bar or an extra-small letter. The Sterling Silver Alabama Crimson Tide Small Bar 18 Inch Necklace is about $139 with the chain attached — a 13 by 12 mm engraved bar on an 18-inch cable chain, the most jewelry-shaped way to wear a school name. The gold version is the 10K Yellow Gold Alabama Letter A Extra Small Pendant, about $153, a 10 by 9 mm solid-gold letter that needs a chain; the 14K Yellow Gold 16 Inch .65mm Diamond-Cut Cable Chain at about $167 catches restaurant light without adding scale.
• Wrist — a bar bracelet. The Sterling Silver Clemson University Small Bar Adjustable 9 Inch Bracelet is about $112: a slim engraved bar on an adjustable chain, so it sits where you want it, does not swing into your plate, and can be washed in the sink without a thought.

Your school is probably not Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, or Penn State — these are simply today's in-stock examples of each shape. The same shapes exist for hundreds of schools in our collegiate collection, and each school has its own page, like this one for the University of Alabama.

How should you split the budget?

• Under $150 — one two-jobs piece. The bar bracelet at about $112 or the bar necklace at about $139; either goes to both places on its own. If what you really want is the tailgate piece, the football pendant plus the rolo chain is about $92, and the chain outlives the joke.
• $150 to $300 — two zones. The bar necklace and the bar bracelet together are about $251, a complete game-day-to-dinner set in matching sterling. Or spend it all on one pair of solid-gold studs at about $248 — the piece that will still be in rotation in ten years.
• $300 and up — solid gold. The 10K letter pendant on the 14K chain is about $320; add the 10K studs and the set is about $568. Gold does not react to sunscreen or sweat, and an extra-small letter in yellow gold is the most dinner-appropriate school jewelry we sell.

One timing note: LogoArt collegiate pieces are made to order and typically ship in about 7 to 10 days, so order the week before the game, not the morning of. Shipping is free and returns are free, as with everything we sell.

Does the metal really matter in a parking lot?

More than it does at dinner. Sunscreen, sweat, and a hot afternoon are the conditions that separate solid metal from plated. Solid sterling tarnishes slowly — that is oxidation, not damage, and a polishing cloth reverses it in a minute. The sterling LogoArt pieces above are described as rhodium-plated, which means a bright, tarnish-resistant finish applied over solid sterling silver; the metal underneath is still silver, a different thing entirely from plating over brass. Solid gold does not react at all. Plated base metal is the one to avoid, because the coating is thin and the parking lot is precisely where it wears through. The words are regulated: the U.S. FTC Jewelry Guides (16 CFR Part 23) set out how "sterling," "10K," and "gold-plated" may be used. Everything linked here is solid sterling or solid 10K/14K gold.

One more thing that matters more at dinner than at the game: the logo has to be right. Every piece here is officially licensed LogoArt — we are an authorized LogoArt dealer — and the artwork is approved through each school's licensing program (many schools run theirs through the Collegiate Licensing Company) before it is made. That is why the letterforms and mascots are correct, and why the school earns a royalty on the piece.

Frequently asked questions

Can I wear school jewelry to a nice restaurant without looking like I came straight from the game?

Yes, if the piece passes the two-jobs test: solid metal, an emblem under about 15 mm, and a jewelry shape rather than a sports shape. Scale is what gives the game away, not the logo.

Should the jewelry match the team colors?

No. Let the clothes carry the colors and let the metal be metal. A yellow-gold letter or a bright sterling bar goes with crimson, orange, navy, or garnet equally well, which is why the same piece works at dinner. Enamel pieces in team colors are wonderful for the tailgate; they are the ones we would take off before the restaurant.

Will sunscreen or sweat hurt sterling silver or gold?

Not permanently. Sunscreen and sweat can dull sterling over a long day and speed up tarnish, which a polishing cloth reverses; rinse the piece in warm water and dry it when you get home. Solid gold is unaffected. Plated base metal is the only category where a day in the sun can do lasting damage.

Is it better to buy the pendant or the necklace?

Read the name. On LogoArt collegiate pieces, "Pendant" means the charm only and the chain is sold separately; "Necklace" means an 18-inch chain is already attached. If you want to wear it the day it arrives, buy the necklace, or add a chain to the same order.

What if my school is not one of the ones mentioned here?

It almost certainly is in the collection. The four schools here are just today's in-stock examples; the same shapes are made for hundreds of schools. Start from the collegiate collection page and pick your school, and if you cannot find a particular shape, ask us.

The short version

Buy for dinner, then add one thing for the lot. Extra-small studs, a bar necklace or small letter pendant, and one bar bracelet carry you from the parking lot to the table without a single change. The football pendant stays in the car — it is about $48, so let it.

Questions about a specific school, a chain length, or which size reads right at arm's length? We are a small family-run shop and we answer our own email — just ask.