Romp There It Is

Why Yes, That Is a Mariners-Themed Male Romper

One diehard baseball fan. One local designer. The summer’s most infamous fashion trend.

By Lindsay Cohen June 15, 2017

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Lifelong M's fan Kristjan Schweizer embraces the male romper.

Image: Lindsay Cohen

I was at Safeco this past Sunday when I did a double take. Was that an actual male romper, out in the wild? At a Mariners game, no less?

Kristjan Schweizer, of Seattle, loved the baseball team ever since he was a kid, when he would make the two-hour trek from his hometown of Leavenworth to see the boys of summer play in the Emerald City. As an adult, he even met his now-fiancee in the Pen, the popular outfield beer garden beloved by singles. 

So it seemed only natural for the 30-year-old to enlist a local designer to make a custom outfit to turn some heads for a Sunday game versus the Blue Jays (attendance: 41,137—one of the best-attended games for the Mariners this season, per the team’s marketing folks). 

And turn heads he did, wearing a male romper—a one-piece outfit decked out in Mariners logos. (Yes… that’s a onesie for adults, and a major topic of discussion on the internet of late.) 

“It was about a month ago where I was sent an article about the [male romper] craze and my friends all thought it was something I would wear,” Schweizer said. “I love wearing clothes that are out there and fun. I thought the idea of a [male romper] was hilarious.” 

Enter Brittany Forney, a local designer, whom Schweizer knew from Ray’s Boathouse, where they both worked. Forney’s a graduate of New York Fashion Academy in Ballard, and created her own custom clothing design firm last year. 

When Schweizer approached Forney to sew a custom romper, she was sold—immediately. 

“I knew I had to do it! Male rompers have become super popular this season,” Forney said. 

The process took about a month from first thought to fashion statement. The duo picked out the right fabric and did an initial measurement. Forney had a mockup in less than a week (and yes, in case you’re wondering, there’s a custom fly to make the bathroom break a breeze.) 

“Less than three days [after the mockup], she came up with the gem [I wore] on Sunday,” he said. “I am blown away.” 

Schweizer wore the $225 getup to Sunday’s game and was inundated with people asking him about the ensemble. (My tweet garnered an outsize amount of attention, including a retweet by the Mariners and a comment from the team’s mascot, Mariner Moose.) 

Forney said after the success of this project, she’s ready to kick the sewing machine into high gear and would make a custom team romper for any fan who asks—even for the Moose. “I’ve always been interested in men’s fashion,” she said, “and [I love] me a good romper.”

You can order a custom romper from Brittany Forney via email at [email protected] and on Instagram at bartle.b.

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