Comments on: Fashion Police Glossary: Shell suits

By: Madi

Madi — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:41:35 +0000

i’m pretty sure i had a purple and green one of these when i was, what… 5? and another till like mid 2000s. then i got my own sense of fashion… most of which this site would probably hate but whatever. XD

By: sue

sue — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:41:16 +0000

I am proud to say that i have never worn a shellsuit in my life. (walks of feeling very smug)

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:42:06 +0000

The first thing I thought of when I saw the picture was Vicky Pollard from “Little Britain.”

By: Carissa

Carissa — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:20:41 +0000

In south US, we called them simply “wind-suits”
and until I started following the FP I never knew that they were a crime of fashion.(I’m a young adult, too) Don’t arrest me, but I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about them. I see them often and on all ages where I live.

By: Lauren

Lauren — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:41:11 +0000

There seemed to be a revival around 2003-2006 of shell/track suits in and around the Glasgow area…

By: Ms. Unique Luvs U

Ms. Unique Luvs U — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:10:30 +0000

*HORROR MOVIE SCREAM*

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:03:26 +0000

We just call them “tracksuits” here. My mom had a Pittsburgh Steelers one, I remember. (This was in the mid-90′s.)

By: gelliott

gelliott — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:45:14 +0000

lol these were definitely prominent in the U.S. and not just in the 80′s. I’m a 90′s kid and I’m positive I had this hideous orange and black windbreaker suit. I also see old ladies wearing these all the time at the mall early in the morning when they’re there to exercise.

By: gokarm

gokarm — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:07:53 +0000

SENIOR CITIZENS…so true. That’s exactly who wears it in the states. My mom was forever looking at the track suits when they were in fashion and I always told her “no, mom, no. You’ll look 20 years older”. I guess they’re comfortable and to an older person, “snazzy”.

By: Riali

Riali — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:56:22 +0000

They were certainly a presence in my little slice of North America in the 80′s, it’s just that we didn’t call them shell suits. I think of them as “Nylon Tracksuits” or “Windbreaker Suits”. (I believe I had a pink one and a red one, but they were strictly rainy/slushy/windy/muddy weather gear. Even at seven I refused to wear them to school.)
They are still beloved of many physically active senior citizens, and often come in matching his and hers pairs in this demographic.