The girls on the sidelines of the football field have a large responsibility to uphold. These girls, members of Iowa State’s dance team, have to constantly guide and lift the atmosphere of not only the players but also the fans. While they maintain wide smiles and precise movements, their appearance is also essential.

They represent Iowa State’s spirit squad to prospective students, visiting alumni and viewers. They must present themselves in an appropriate yet eye-catching way. Over the years, their outfits have evolved with the current trends and have become more specific depending on the game or competition. The team has dealt with criticism and praise along the way for how professionally the girls demonstrate themselves.

Coaching the team for the last 17 years, Jill Petersen sees a different side of the uniforms than the fans at sporting events. When she first started, the team wore a skirt and top set that resembled a cheerleader’s outfit. At the time, they only had one option to choose from, and they wore that for every event no matter the environment. Starting off without funds, Petersen was not allowed to purchase new uniforms her first year coaching.

Today the team is fortunate enough to have strong financial backing and have specific outfits for each event. They have outfits for game days, appearances, competitions, dance team camp and practice. These outfits are composed of two different pairs of black pants paired with a variety of short-sleeve and long-sleeve crop tops. The team also pairs the tops with a selection of skirts for events in the fall such as warmer weather football games.

“I think when the girls feel good in what they are wearing, they feel more confident dancing,” Peterson said. “You want them to love their team and love what they wear.”

Courtney McCulloh is a fourth-year member of the dance team and has seen the slow evolution of the uniforms.

“We still wear the outfits that I wore my freshman year but have added a few new ones to our wardrobe,” McCulloh said.

Comparing the Iowa State dance team uniforms to her high school uniforms, McCulloh said that the biggest difference is the crop top, and the fact that it shows more of the dancer’s stomach. She also said that in high school she had one uniform for every football and basketball game, and she had now has multiple outfits that are switched up for each game.

“My personal favorite uniform to wear is our black pants and white I-State halter crop top,” McCulloh said. “It’s just very slimming on everyone and has a very collegiate look to it.”

To stay relevant with current trends, the team has a rhinestone Iowa State jersey incorporated into their selection choices.

“Rhinestone and bling are big in the dance world,” Peterson said. “For game days, you will see a lot more form-fitting tops as well. Some tops could be sequins and some may look more cheer-like.”

Rhinestones and sparkles have always been big. Nine years ago, when the current assistant coach Sarah Miller was on the team, they had a white tank top with red sparkles, red pants with gold sequins down the leg and a full red and gold sequined skirt with a matching crop top. The team also had a white skirt and red tank to mix with these garments.

Miller said the girls today are lucky to have so many options to choose from with a lot of color and bling.

“I think it makes performing at Cyclone game day even more exciting for the girls when they can switch up what they are dancing in and feel confident,” Miller said.

The ISU Spirit Squad has two separate dance teams. The Gold and Cardinal squads are merged for most occasions. As a result, their outfits are the same. However, they differ for competitions, when the costume is created to suit the routine.

The coaching staff will also base the girls’ uniform off of the team they are playing that day.

“For example, we try to wear lots of cardinal when we play University of Iowa because Iowa is gold and black so we want as much cardinal on the field as possible,” said Jennifer Dohmen, a former dance team member.

Dohmen was on the dance team during a major transition for Iowa State. Her freshman year was the first year Iowa State changed their school colors and logo so the dance team could not wear any previous uniforms.

Dohmen said they had only one uniform that year and wore it to every football and basketball game. The uniform was a white skirt and a cardinal tank with “ISU” written on it.

The staff slowly added more and more uniforms over Dohmen’s time, and the team eventually had three skirts and 10 tops to choose from.

“These uniforms had bling and rhinestones on them and also said a variety of things like “Cyclones,” “ISU” and Iowa State,” Dohmen said. 

As for who picks the outfits, Petersen said that she and the rest of her coaching staff will usually decide what the next order of costumes will look like. The staff will take input from team members, but they keep the overall team in mind and select pieces that will last throughout multiple seasons. Varying body shapes are also one of the main deciding factors.

The team received criticism a few years ago when they started to wear black pants during some of the events. The fans had never seen them before, but Peterson said once they realized a lot of dance teams across the nation were wearing them the comments stopped.

An issue the team faces is preventing their spray tans from spreading onto the uniforms. After becoming aware of the issue, the members have become strict about showering before they put on the uniforms, and they all are aware of the quality of the garments. Another trick they abide by is always carrying safety pins. These assist with sliding pants or when tops need extra support.

“We really just like the girls to look very collegiate. We don’t like the bra top or the pro-look for our girls,” Peterson said. “We’d like to keep the All-American college girl as our focus.”