So, I’m back in Buffalo for Thanksgiving. Dad and I are eating at Denny’s, and the sight of the diners was one to behold; fully one quarter of everyone enjoying their undeniably unhealthy lunches are wearing a Roots sweatshirt. Among the cars in the parking lot, about half have Ontario license plates.
So, what’s up, Canadian Dopers? Is there some CRTC-like law that requires you to have at least 50% identifiably Canadian content among your personal wardrobe, or what?
Nope, not at all. They’re just comfy and warm.
And yet I don’t own a single Roots sweatshirt. :dubious: (I have a pair of their yoga pants though).
Heh…I just bought 3 Roots sweaters a couple of weeks ago. They’re warm, comfortable and I can wear them at work since they look decent.
(And they were 30% off. That always makes them feel extra comfortable.)
I lived there for 39 years. What’s a Roots sweatshirt?
I would have said the official uniform was jeans and a white T-shirt with an unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt over it.
We do it to embarass the Australians. 
No they’re not. Actually, there seems to be a trend lately to try to advertise in ways that imply patronizing a company is synonymous with national pride, and people seem to totally go for it. I detest it. Roots is one, but Horny Tim’s with their “True North Strong And Free” billboards turn me off, too.
Possibly. I work in the Netherlands with a mix of people from various European countries, and several times I’ve heard expressed the impression that Canadians dress themselves in symbols. And maybe there’s truth to this, since sometimes this comes up in response to my “200 Wolf Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets” sweater and my “Central Region Gliding School” ball cap and my valise with the Canadian flag sewn onto it. 
But I don’t only dress like that! Honest! Why, today I’m wearing an entirely plain black sweater*.
(That completely covers up the part of my necktie where the initials of my high school are embroidered*)
(**Come on, it was part of the uniform, and it’s not like it was worn out when I graduated.)
Oh shit I hope not, since I haven’t got one.
Hey, a fellow CRGS grad. What year?
My hat’s brim is pretty warn out. It’s really not wearable anymore. I don’t wear the jacket much, as my name is spelt wrong on the sleeve.
Do I take it that this has nothing to do wit the Philadelphia rap group, The Roots?
Hey, there!
I took the course in 1998*, and was an instructor for a few summers starting in 2001. How about you?
My original hat is all worn out and retired too, but I’m wearing the one I got in 2006 as an instructor. And I was too cheap to buy the jacket, but I made up for it on Power the next year. 
I was hoping someone would answer my previous question, because I’ve never heard the expression “Roots sweatshirt” before today. I’m really curious about what you’re discussing.
Wasn’t Roots actually founded by a couple of Americans?
In any case, I have never owned anything they make. No particular reason, I’m just not big on the sweatshirt thing.
Roots is a Canadian clothing manufacturer.
About 4 years ago, I was at Epcot, and bought a long sleeved, gray Roots T-shirt. Until this very minute I thought it was a Disney sort of a knock off thing.
Does this make me Canadian? I love hockey more than virtually everything but beer, and I have a couple plaid flannel shirts?
Oh, thanks. Never heard of 'em. Maybe it’s one of those places like Abercrombie & Fitch, where I’ve never been and have no reason to go. I don’t think I’ve ever owned a sweatshirt, and down here the need for them is just about nil.
Here’s a good example, picked more or less at random off the Roots website.
I think I own one item of clothing from Roots, and it doesn’t actually say “Roots” on it. I’m not big on either advertising where I bought my clothes, or on doing the whole over-the-top “I am Canadian” thing.
When was the last time you were in Canada? I would say that was the official uniform of the grunge era, not of Canada. I haven’t seen someone who wasn’t an actual lumberjack wearing the unbuttoned plaid flannel since circa 1996.
I haven’t been there since 1998. I suppose it depends on where you live, but when I was there last, and for the previous umpteen years, you could have seen scores of young guys in the outfit I described, also wearing work boots, whether they worked in construction or not. They’d been doing it since long before anyone would describe grunge as something other than the crud on the floor behind the toilet.
Wasn’t Roots the official supplier of all Canadian Olympic clothing? And whatever happened to Roots shoes? I do remember having good Canadian Roots shoes some decades ago… My new boots for winter are from Canada (though not Roots). Canadians understand boots!
They used to be, but not any more. The Hudson’s Bay Company is now the official supplier. It was quite galling to see American Olympic outfitted in snazzy Roots clothing at Turino when the Canadians were stuck in that awful HBC clothing.