Tackiness Is Universal: Fandom Meets Fashion At The World Cup

The World Cup is a bit like the Oscar red carpet for super-fans, and the mega devoted from across the globe simply don’t mess when it comes to showing off their devotion to their team:

Somewhere, a Tea Partier is taking style notes.

Either this guy is super patriotic, or he’s very confused and still thinks he’s at a rave in 1997.

I would LOVE to see the face of the person who just realized they’d have to spend a few hours sitting next to this guy.

It’s good to know that the Cliched Patriotism Bumper Sticker Association of America is being well represented.

This guy isn’t messing around, and he has the accessories to prove it.

Argentina’s fans took some time to show their team—and each other—some love.

Do you think everyone gets so pissed off at soccer games because 98% of the crowd shows up wearing hats that block everyone else’s view?

Fill me in, futbol fans: are these hats, which seem to be customizable to every team, always popular? Or is this a World Cup trend of sorts?

Face-painting: old school, but effective.

This Uruguay fan makes use of paint and feathers…

While this woman secures her place as quite possibly the most French woman alive.

This man brought a cockatiel to the France/Uruguay game, for reasons I’m not sure of.

I think this woman has the best headgear of all, no?

How long before we see this look on the cover of Nylon?

Horns, like this South African vuvuzela, are seemingly embraced by all countries attending the event.

And, naturally, flags are always waving.

And maybe that’s the best part of the World Cup, really: each team, and each country, has their own extremely loyal and somewhat ridiculous fans.

But in the end, everyone in the world is getting together and having some fun.

And no matter what team you root for…

The world fully supports and embraces your right to be as tacky as you want to be.