Who are you wearing? Pits the 'it' place for fashion

Fashion Week in New York is wrapping up just as NASCAR is getting started, and while the two entities seem to be polar opposites, their worlds cross paths more often than one might think.

That certainly was the case for NASCAR star Jeff Gordon who attended Fashion Week, specifically the William Rast show with party-goers Russell Simmons and Duran Duran's Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes.

Rubbing elbows with fashionistas in Manhattan and appearing in People is a stark contrast from the days when Gordon wore a mustache and a mullet to dirt tracks in Indiana.

The driver has made a significant fashionable evolution and his influence, among many other dynamics, has transformed the look of NASCAR's pit road in recent years.

Johnson

From $30 Wranglers to $300 William Rast, what drivers and team owners don to the track has changed dramatically. The same holds true for the pit box princesses latched to the arms of their driver husbands and boyfriends who frequently attract the flashbulbs of the glitterati. NASCAR has evolved from box-store fashion to haute couture.

Pit road can at times resemble a red carpet event, said Sherry Pollex, longtime girlfriend to Sprint Cup driver Martin Truex Jr.

"Martin always tells me, 'Hey, you're not going to a fashion show,' but really it's exactly that: a fashion show on pit road," Pollex said, who is capitalizing on the new fashion demands of NASCAR's top drivers and their wives.

Last summer, the 28-year-old Florida State University grad opened a high-end fashion boutique in the heart of NASCAR, Mooresville, N.C., near dozens of race shops.

"When Martin and I started dating, I was blown away by how dressed up the girls got on pit road and the labels they were wearing," Pollex said.

Now, working from her shop, Lavendar Boutique, Pollex keeps the NASCAR garage in high fashion.

She keeps track of her clienteles' styles and sizes; she knows Krissie Newman, Ryan Newman's wife, adores Rock & Republic jeans and she knows Chandra Johnson, Jimmie Johnson's wife, is a fan of designer Rebecca Taylor.

"We were so excited when we saw Chandra wearing her swing jacket on pit road before the Budweiser Shootout," Pollex said of a recent purchase Johnson made from Lavendar Boutique.

Pollex also pointed out an equal amount of interest is coming from the NASCAR husbands as well, inquiring about her latest fashions and frocks.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Kasey Kahne is part of the new era of driver with an eye on appearance.

The Gordon Effect

Considered one of the more fashion-forward personalities in the garage, Ray Evernham said in the early 1990s, when he made his foray into NASCAR, the fashion landscape was still fairly Southern. Flannel shirts and cowboy hats were a staple.

Before he formed his own Sprint Cup team, Gillett Evernham Motorsports, Evernham was tapped to crew chief Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports.

"Gordon wasn't from the South, he came in wearing Nikes while everyone else was wearing cowboy boots," said Evernham, who himself wears designer jeans and Prada loafers.

Evernham said the forward fashion move is a result of big corporate dollars brought to the sport and an increasing number of drivers and industry players entering NASCAR from all over the globe.

"I think as the sport evolved and more money came, people started paying more attention to fashion, it's not just a Southeastern regional sport anymore," he said. "As time goes, I think you'll start to see more and more fashion."

Evernham

Drivers clearly set the trends as well. The sport's young guns, with their high-dollar salaries and product endorsements, bring their own unique styles. Rarely do you see a driver without his designer sunglasses: Electric, Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Spy, etc. -- all brands that start at $100 a pair and go up to $400.

Even Ryan Newman, a Hoosier native and graduate of a primarily agricultural college, is up on fashion and admits to spending upwards of $100 for a pair of jeans.

"Yeah, I have a specific label I wear, Lucky Brand," he said. "But when I buy them, I get like 10 pair because I buy one and the next half off."

And he's noticed the change in the attire females are wearing along pit road as well.

"It's changed a lot and you go back 50 years and women weren't even allowed in the garage," he said. "You know women like to be pretty and guys have a feminine side as well, we like our fancy jeans too."

Kasey Kahne classifies himself as a jeans-and-T-shirt guy, but those jeans he's wearing are anything but basic.

"I'm pretty picky about my jeans," he said. "I'll try 10 pairs on and buy zero or some days I'll buy five. My favorite pair right now is Diesel, but I have a variety. I would say $190 is the most I've ever paid though."

Carl Edwards keeps a personal shopper on hand and when he finds a fashion he likes, the two rarely part.

"I haven't been clothes shopping in a while, my assistant Angela picks out stuff for me, but I got these boots from a People Magazine shoot a long time ago, I wear them so much I had to have them re-soled," Edwards said.

Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Krissie Newman says it's important for her to be comfortable -- but still be stylish at the track.

Fashionably Apathetic

As for an actual fashionable evolution of pit road; Kahne said he doesn't pay attention. The 27-year-old Washington native wasn't around for the days where drivers' raced in their blue jeans and wing tips or when cover-alls doubled as a drivers' uniform and work clothes.

Kyle Petty, whose iconic fashion statement is a scrunchie of some sort around his ponytail, acknowledges the trend and said the en vogue mentality of today's pit road comes from the youth movement of NASCAR.

He said drivers who came up in the Dale Earnhardt era were older and at a different stage in life where putting food on the table was a priority, not their panache.

Petty

"Here's what you wear, you wear what you can afford. That's how simple it is. As you make more money and do different things, you shop in different places," Petty said, dressed in black flat-front pants and a leather jacket. "My point is, 20 years ago drivers didn't fly jets, they rode in a car and 20 years ago they stayed in a hotel, not in a bus.

"And as we critique my ensemble, 90 percent of it came from T.J. Maxx," he added. "[Fashion] adds zero to the sport, I don't have any energy for it. What do I care about fashion? I haven't had a haircut in 15 years. I'm ready for my plaid pants and stripped shirt phase."

Fan or not, fashion is a topic of conversation on NASCAR's pit road.

So much so that Pollex feels she can't wear the same shirt twice in one season.

"People take my picture and it's really a thing between the girls, you're at a track and how you look matters," Pollex said. "Honestly for me, it's a respect thing as well. Like church on Sundays, when I walk out there, I have a sense of pride because I'm a reflection of Martin and what he does."

Most agree, including Krissie Newman, that the fashion influx stems from the sport's increased television programs and broadcast partners -- television cameras and photographers abound on pit road and in the garage. You never know when your five minutes of fame may come along.

"I know some people really like to dress up because of the cameras and that's fine," Newman said. "I used to dress up ... white cargo pants and nice shoes but I just ended up getting water spots and grease stains on them. You still have to remember you're at a racetrack. You can look professional and stylish and still be comfortable."

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Adding the fashionable Ashley Judd to pit road will only increase the focus on pit-road attire.

Fashionable Fans

By no means is new fashion exclusive to pit road, one look at the grandstands and you can see it has spilled over.

A few years ago, the fashion buzz surrounded manufacturers and designers pulling the sport into their product lines. The marketing machine of NASCAR was licensing high-heels and bathing suits; females could choose from a wider selection of fan merchandise and NASCAR jackets made a splash in the hip-hop community.

The sport's fan base is making their own fashion statements and not in the form of farmer tans and dirty tank-tops.

"NASCAR started to recognize that women are a huge part of the fan base," said Shannon Hanna, president and founder of Genius Fashion Inc. "And immediately women scream fashion, 42 percent of the fan base is now female."

With a license from NASCAR, Genius Fashion Inc. manufactures NASCAR-themed foot wear from high-heels and boots to flip-flops and sling-backs. Its debut line was an instant success at Victoria's Secret.

"NASCAR was selling at Victoria's Secret. That was a huge endorsement," Hanna said.

And Hanna is convinced the fashion trends and the new product lines they bring with them are not fads or novelty items. That said, it doesn't take a supermodel to know that fashion, like other elements of NASCAR, is cyclical.

What goes around comes back around; in a decade, Richard Petty could unknowingly be a trendsetter and Gordon will once again embrace Carhartt.