Match Fitness: Back in these streets

Before I jump in, I just want to acknowledge the conflict I feel in writing an admittedly frivolous column about player fashion and style in the midst of NWSL and the broader soccer world/world-at-large’s reckoning with abuse and reprehensible behavior from those in positions of power, and the refusal to act to stop it by so many more. I hope that in continuing to write about and highlight the players from OL Reign in this series, I am working to celebrate those individuals, bringing attention to their humanity and personhood away from the field.

Now, let’s get cooking. The results on the field — for both OL Reign and the Seattle Sounders — have been good, but what’s even better is Xavier Arreaga’s sweater from last Sunday (I’m choosing to believe that he pulled it out of the closet to celebrate my birthday, which is very kind of him). The sweater, a navy, heavy-knit piece, features Polo Ralph Lauren’s iconic teddy bear. The bear appears in all manner of outfits, this time around donning round, wire glasses and a preppy scarf. While the exact same one is tough to find, you can find very similar versions all over the internet. There’s not much else you can see in the picture, but I’ve got to give the guy some props for his accessorizing. The little peek of a nice, chunky chain around his collar and the big black and gold watch are appropriately baller for the display he put on against Colorado. Arreaga seems to truly be coming into his own, both on and off the field. You love to see it.

Sounders FC Digital

Jumping back in time for a bit, now’s a perfect time to recognize and celebrate the incredible athletes that represented OL Reign at the Tokyo Olympics this Summer. Angelina, on the far left here dated in the Brazil flag, has the look that’s hardest to make out. She’s definitely wearing some stylish, black sweats, a beige windbreaker of some sort, and a graphic tee. She’s finished the look off — again, not counting that fantastic flag — with a pair of Air Force 1s that seem to be roughly matched to her jacket, some sort of cream/beige with metallic details.

Beside Angelina, Rose Lavelle is bringing some edge to her preppy look. White sneakers, tan skirt, and a button-up shirt with a navy sweater over it is pretty classic, but Lavelle’s brought some creativity and unexpected touches to it as she does with just about everything else. First of all the skirt’s a bit shorter than you might initially expect, and that length is brought into even starker contrast from the expectation by the slightly oversized sweater that she’s tucked asymmetrically. It’s cool, in a rebelliously badass private school way.

Megan Rapinoe requires no introduction, but part of this format is saying who you’re talking about when there are multiple people in a picture. Pinoe is purely and uncompromisingly Pinoe, from the round little sunglasses and vast array of jewelry down to the Gucci loafers. The pants and jacket are marvelous, but the sorts of things that it feels like only she could wear.

Quinn is exuding casual coolness. What else could you possibly need to complete a look when you’ve got a gold medal around your neck. The rest of the look is pretty simple, the striped shirt with contrast-colored sleeves is really great. Black joggers and what look like a pair of white Stan Smiths complete their look exquisitely.

Sounders FC Digital

The brothers Roldan are always a bright spot in any Sounders home game. They both tend to keep things pretty dialed in, and then they perfectly execute in the details. Cristian Roldan’s star piece here is this shirt jacket/over-shirt from Deus Ex Machina, while Alex Roldan’s black and plaid look is really set off by his gold chain. Both guys are sporting Adidas sneakers, with Cristian in a pair of black Stan Smiths and Alex in what look like an all-white pair of Continental 80s. Nice work, boys, we’ll see you when you’re back from your national team duties.

We’re going to run through the rest of these a little quicker. No disrespect to the incredible athletes and their great outfits, but there’s only so much time in the day.

Grid View

• Kelcie Hedge, Leah Pruitt and Machaela George. Jane G. Photography
• Alana Cook, Tziarra King, Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock. Jane G. Photography

When the Reign rolled up for the Portland doubleheader, many of them did so in coordinated outfits. By definition, coordinated outfits are automatically elevated. Maybe not in the case of a corny family photo, but when you’re showing up to an event or heading out for the night it’s absolutely true. Kelcie Hedge, Leah Pruitt and Michaela George opted to tell a white and beige color story between the three of them. They’re all having fun, and that’s what matters most. Pruitt and Hedge are both giving some very particular early-2000s energy, in very different ways. Hedge with her crop-tanktop, and Pruitt with the very precise type of bagginess of her pants. George’s dress is fun, but there’s not a ton going on with it.

The coordination in the second picture here is a little bit different, and not necessarily as apparent. Alana Cook and Tziarra King have both gone for similar shapes and light colors on top — Cook’s got what looks like a cream shirt jacket, while King’s rocking a pink coach’s jacket that I believe is from Adidas — over black sports bras, or something of that nature, with black bottoms. Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock went with white sneakers, jeans, and the Sounders Jimi Hendrix Jersey, opting for white and black jeans respectively.

Grid View

• Nicolas Benezet in a Space Jam jacket. Sounders FC Digital
• Nouhou and Abdoulaye Cissoko Sounders FC Digital

If you haven’t already fallen in love with Seattle’s newest Frenchie, maybe you just haven’t been paying attention to Nicolas Benezet. He’s been a great on-field addition, but the anime-loving gentleman has maybe most excelled on social media where he’s constantly firing off incredible content. He certainly didn’t disappoint with his walk-in look here, pulling up in this outstanding Space Jam jacket from Members Only (a brand that, frankly, I didn’t realize still existed). This one ended up, unintentionally, being about the Francophones, as Nouhou and AB Cissoko wrap up the looks for this one. Both of them are also rocking some very interesting early-2000s vibes, albeit very different ones from the Reign players above. There’s real East Coast, late-90s/early-2000s vibes from Nouhou here with the puffer vest look, while Cissoko’s got some serious Miami heat going on. The all-white look is crisp, and really serves to make the graphic tee pop. The t-shirt is from H&M and features Venom, a character some may recognize, and Morbius the Living Vampire, a Marvel character that I frankly hadn’t heard of until, like, two months ago. He’s a huge nerd, and I love him so much.

Lastly, before we get out of here, let’s take a moment to pay our respects to the Seattle Storm’s fantastic season and their even better style.