Lay a navy Bears crewneck next to a green Packers jacket on a table and something strange happens. The two pieces look like they were made to argue with each other. Orange against gold, navy against forest green, a sharp wishbone C against a rounded G in an oval. They are both Midwestern, both built for cold Sundays, and both a little old-fashioned in the best way. They also belong to the oldest rivalry in the National Football League, one that started in the early 1920s and has been played well over two hundred times since.
Most writing about vintage Chicago Bears or vintage Green Bay Packers gear treats each team on its own. This piece is about the space between them: why the two wardrobes look the way they do, how the rivalry shaped what fans bought and wore, what happens when a household contains both, and how to wear either team's colours without reigniting the whole argument at dinner.
01. A rivalry older than most of the league
The Bears and the Packers first met in 1921, when the Chicago club was still finding its name and the league itself was barely organised. George Halas ran the Chicago side for decades as owner and coach. Curly Lambeau, who helped found the Packers in 1919, led Green Bay. Both men treated the fixture as personal, and that tone never really went away. The rivalry has outlived the leather helmets, the move to the modern playoff system and every uniform redesign in between.
What makes it unusual is the mismatch between the two places. Chicago is one of the largest cities on the continent. Green Bay is a small city in northeastern Wisconsin whose team is owned by its fans through a public shareholder structure, which is rare in major North American sport. One side is the big lakefront metropolis, the other is a town that kept its team against all odds. That contrast filters into the merchandise. Chicago gear often leans on the city, the skyline and the toughness of the neighbourhoods. Green Bay gear leans on the community, the frozen field and the sense of a small place punching well above its weight.
For a collector, this long history means the rivalry appears on clothing from almost every decade that produced fan apparel at all. You will not find much from the earliest years outside museums, but from the sixties onward, both teams turn up on sweatshirts, jackets, knit caps and tees in steady supply.
02. Two colour stories that refuse to blend
The Bears settled on navy and orange long ago, and the wishbone-shaped C that most people picture arrived in the early sixties. The Packers have worn green and gold for most of their modern history, and their G logo inside a football-shaped oval also dates to the early sixties. Both logos have barely changed since, which means a Bears or Packers piece from 1975 and one from 2005 can share the same basic mark. That is a gift for wearers and a puzzle for anyone trying to date a garment.
The colours themselves behave very differently once they age. Navy is forgiving. It fades toward a soft slate, sometimes with a slightly purple cast, and it rarely looks tired. Bears orange can drift toward a pale coral or a burnt, dusty shade, and the contrast between the two colours gets gentler over time. Packers green is trickier. Older dye can shift toward a bluish teal or an olive tone, and gold can go mustard or almost cream. When a Packers sweatshirt has faded evenly, it can be one of the most beautiful pieces of sportswear around. When it has faded in patches, the result can look muddy.
Put the two palettes in the same outfit and they fight. Orange and green next to each other are very loud, and navy and gold together read more like a different team altogether. That is part of the fun of the rivalry, but it is also a practical clue: these teams were designed to be worn separately, by people standing on opposite sides of the stadium.
03. What the rivalry put on fans' backs
Because the two teams meet twice a season in the same division, the rivalry generated its own category of clothing beyond ordinary fan gear. Through the eighties and nineties especially, printed tees and sweatshirts that poked fun at the other side were common: a cartoon bear chasing a block of cheese, a Packers graphic mocking the Bears, or shirts that simply listed the scores of famous wins. Many of these were made by small regional printers and sold at bars, gas stations and parking lots rather than official shops.
Those unofficial rivalry tees are some of the most entertaining things you can find from either team. They are usually printed on thin cotton blanks with single-stitched hems, the jokes are often dated, and the graphics have a homemade charm that licensed merchandise lacks. They also tend to be one-offs in the true sense, since a local print run might have been a few dozen shirts.
Official pieces from the big rivalry eras are easier to place. The 1985 Bears produced a mountain of merchandise around Mike Ditka, Walter Payton, William Perry and the famous shuffle. The Packers revival of the nineties around Brett Favre, Reggie White and the Super Bowl win after the 1996 season produced its own flood of jackets, caps and tees. In 2011 the two teams met in the NFC Championship game at Soldier Field, and the Packers went on to win the Super Bowl that season, which gave one side a fresh round of shirts and the other a fresh grudge.
A rivalry this old outlasts any single player. The clothes are how each generation signs its name to it.
04. The cold-weather wardrobe both teams share
Whatever divides them, both clubs play outdoors in some of the harshest late-season conditions in the league. Lambeau Field became famous for frozen games, and the lakefront wind at Soldier Field is its own kind of punishment. As a result, the vintage gear from both teams is dominated by warm layers, which is good news if you live in Ontario and need clothing that actually works in January.
- Heavyweight crewnecks and hoodies. Thick fleece with a big chest print, often with raglan sleeves. Check the cuffs and waistband ribbing for stretch.
- Quilted satin jackets. Snap fronts, knit collars and a padded lining. Look for split seams along the shoulders and worn lining at the cuffs.
- Pullover anoraks. Half-zip or snap placket, a kangaroo pocket and a hood. These are excellent over a hoodie.
- Sideline parkas. Long, boxy coats with heavy insulation. Bulky, but truly warm.
- Knit toques and scarves. Striped in team colours, often with a pom-pom. Both teams' fans have worn these for generations.
The garments themselves are almost identical across the two teams, made by the same licensed manufacturers to the same patterns, with only the colours and logos swapped. That makes the comparison oddly satisfying. A green and gold satin jacket and a navy and orange one from the same maker and season are twins who happen to hate each other.
05. Living in a split household
Rivalries do not stay in their home cities. Plenty of families in Ontario include someone who grew up near Chicago, someone with Wisconsin relatives, or simply two people who picked opposite sides as kids and never let it go. If that sounds familiar, there are a few gentle ways to dress the house without starting a feud.
The first is to keep the teams in separate outfits. It sounds obvious, but the temptation to make a clever mixed look, a Packers toque with a Bears jacket, usually produces something that reads as confused rather than witty. If you want to signal both, do it through a pair of people: matching garment types in rival colours, such as two old satin jackets or two striped toques, look deliberate and a little funny when worn side by side on game day.
The second is to collect the same kind of thing for each side. A small shelf of rivalry tees, one for every few seasons, makes a better display than a random mix, and it keeps the conversation about the games rather than about who has more stuff. If you care about storage, fold heavy sweatshirts rather than hanging them, and keep satin jackets on broad hangers so the shoulders do not dimple.
06. Dating pieces when the logos never changed
Since the main logos have stayed stable for decades, you need other clues to place a Bears or Packers piece. Collectors look at several details together, knowing that none of them settles the question alone.
Tags are the first stop. Licensed maker labels changed over the years, and a tag's design, fibre content and country of manufacture can point toward a rough period. Single-stitched hems on tees often suggest an older shirt, though some makers used them later and some reproductions copy them. Graphics give another hint: player names, anniversary dates, Super Bowl numbers and championship slogans narrow things down quickly, provided the piece is not a later reissue of an older design.
Wordmarks are worth a look too. Script and block lettering came and went in fashion, and the style of the team name on a jacket can feel distinctly seventies, eighties or nineties even when the logo does not. Finally, consider the fabric. Very heavy, slightly stiff fleece with a dense print often belongs to the late eighties or nineties, while thin, soft blends with a cracked print tend to be older. Weigh all of it, then decide whether the age matters to you as much as the look.
07. Wearing one side at a time
A single rival colour scheme is strong enough to anchor a whole outfit, so the rest of what you wear should step back. For Bears pieces, navy does most of the work. A navy crewneck with the wishbone C sits well with grey trousers, light-wash jeans or khaki chinos, and the orange becomes a small accent rather than a shout. An orange-dominant piece is harder, and looks best with charcoal, black or a deep olive below it.
For Packers pieces, treat green as a neutral and gold as the accent. A green Packers hoodie under a tan canvas jacket or a brown corduroy shirt has a lovely autumn feel. Green also works with cream, ecru denim and navy, though navy trousers with a gold-heavy top can tip toward looking like a different club. Keep shoes simple: white sneakers, brown boots or worn-in black trainers all suit both teams.
Fit matters as much as colour. Nineties sweatshirts from both teams were cut wide and short, with dropped shoulders and a deep body, so they look best with straight or relaxed trousers. Satin jackets from the eighties often run a little short in the body, which makes them good over a hoodie whose hem can peek out underneath. Measure a jacket you already like before buying, and pay more attention to chest width and sleeve length than to the size on the label.
08. A short checklist before you pick a side
Whether you are hunting vintage Chicago Bears gear for yourself, vintage Green Bay Packers gear for a relative or one of each to keep the peace, a few quick questions will keep you from bringing home something you regret.
- Does the colour still look like the team, or has it faded into something muddy?
- Are the ribbing, cuffs and collar still springy enough to hold their shape?
- On jackets, do the snaps close firmly and is the lining whole at the cuffs and armholes?
- Is the print cracked evenly, or is it lifting away in sheets?
- Will it actually fit over the layers you wear in winter?
- Can you picture it worn on an ordinary weekday, not just on game day?
Rivalry pieces of every kind come through Throwback Vault's weekly drops on Queen West and at Square One, and you never know in advance which side will show up. That unpredictability suits a fixture that has been swinging back and forth for a century. Pick the colours you were raised on, or the ones you chose for yourself, and wear them through the cold months with a little pride and a little mischief.
