The famous red blazers

Sometime in 1958-59, the Red Shirts decided to replace the traditional red shirts and white ties with a more contemporary look. They ordered red blazers with a felt blazer crest. The debut of the blazers was delayed when the Red Shirts were placed on suspension in Spring 1959. They were first worn at the wedding of Red Shirt Harold Johnson in Pine Bluff during late spring, but they did not make their campus debut until a home football game in October 1959. The distinctive blazers, "fire-engine red" wool felt with gold metallic buttons and a red and white embroidered blazer crest on the left breast pocket, were probably conceived by long-time Red Shirt sponsor J.L. "Nick" Carter, former Tiger football great and men's clothing store owner. Carter's Men's Store had been, in fact, the source of the original red shirts custom-ordered in 1935. The red blazers were ordered through Rho Sigma alumnus J.W. Bethea's clothing store in Arkadelphia. Fall 1959 Red Shirt president Ed Snider is said to have sold his car -- or someone else's car -- to pay for the first Rho Sigma blazers. Although the cost of an individual blazer is not known, it probably was no more than $20 each. A comparable blazer today would retail for around $300. Of course, once Rho Sigma adopted blazers, the other fraternities at Ouachita were soon to follow. Within a few years, fraternity blazers were used by all of Ouachita's fraternities. Red Shirts complained that the florid mantling surrounding the arms on the original blazer crest made it look like a "scrambled egg," so new crests -- minus the mantle and with a black border --were ordered in Fall 1964. However, the crest manufacturer arbitrarily changed the colors of the arms from red outlined in white to orange-yellow outlined in red, omitting the black border entirely! By the late Sixties, Red Shirts often owned two blazers: wool-felt for the fall and winter months and a lighter weight hopsack for the spring. To keep costs down, graduating seniors passed blazers down to freshmen initiates for nominal fees. As the "rules" of fashion were systematically abandoned in the free-wheeling Sixties, the wearing of jackets and ties went from informal wear to "formal" wear. Slacks gave way to denim jeans. Arguments ensued over whether it was proper to wear the blazer with mock turtlenecks instead of shirts and ties. By the early Seventies, Red Shirts routinely wore the blazer with faded jeans, tee-shirts, or even shorts. As the cost of a quality blazer rose beyond the reach of the average college freshman, the quality and material of the Rho Sigma blazers dropped sharply. Members opted for cheaper polyester styles. Sometime around the mid-Eighties, the tradition of wearing blazers was largely discontinued, with a single red blazer -- 100 percent bright red polyester -- retained solely to be worn for composite photos. The active Red Shirts re-introduced the famous blazers at Homecoming 2006, along with a new blazer crest designed by Red Shirt alumnus Mark Chapel. Today's blazers appear in a variety of styles and fabrics -- most ordered on eBay to cut costs.

WEARING THE ORIGINAL BLAZERS, RED SHIRTS JIM LAWRENCE AND BILL SHAMBURGER FLASH THE VICTORY SIGN AT A BASKETBALL VICTORY PARTY IN 1961-62. NOTE THE LARGE BLAZER CRESTS.