Sometimes in life you just have to draw the line. That much is indisputable. Thankfully, in some areas, these lines are pretty clear. In football, for example, you could say that headbutts, biting and spitting are examples of unacceptable acts (although some players clearly do not know that…)
Other areas are much greyer. How bad, for example, does a meal have to be before you actually say something to the waiter? Just badly seasoned? Terrible? Inedible?
Also, at what point do you tell the builder that, frankly, he is doing a rubbish job? When the shower door is slightly askew? When the light bulb in the kitchen has gone three times in five days despite the assurances that it has nothing to do with him? When he says he is finished and there is a massive draft in the loft extension?
Equally, at what point do you look at a football kit and say: this has gone too far?
The question cropped up again this week as 1860 Munich revealed a special Oktoberfest kit for the game against Ingolstadt on Saturday.
Now this is nothing new as it is the third year running the club marks the occasion with a special kit. However, it is the first time it has included lederhosen-inspired shorts. And here comes the moral dilemma. It is quite clear, from a starting point of view, that this should not be allowed; that it is an affront to all classic football kits out there.
The problem is, though, that it is quite nice.
Wir legen uns fest: Der @TSV1860 München hat hiermit den Trikot-Endgegner besiegt. Schöner wird es nicht mehr. pic.twitter.com/98DSAMAf3e
— 11FREUNDE_de (@11Freunde_de) September 16, 2014
However hard you try to dismiss it, the fact remains that it is pretty cool. And we are not alone in thinking that, apparently. The German football magazine 11Freunde said it ended the discussion of the best football kit ever. It is simply the best.
And the 1860 Munich fans, more importantly, seem to agree. Despite the shirt being priced at €89.99, the shorts at €34.99 and the shorts at €19.99, the kit had sold out within four days – and is now selling for more than that on Ebay.
But if lederhosen-inspired kits are allowed then where do you draw the line? Nowhere? How about Napoli’s recently released denim kit?
#SSCNapoli launches the new away kit "Perfect Denim" http://t.co/CR4FmF6toG #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/qrSLWoc3ES
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) September 11, 2014
Is that acceptable? Or their camouflage kit?
That may still be – just – on the right side of acceptable but it is probably fair to say that the line is probably drawn somewhere between this:
and this, frankly, terrible effort:
So, all in all, it’s not that easy to draw the line when it comes to what should be allowed and what should not when it comes to kits. I thought I could draw the line at Lederhosens but I clearly can’t. Where do you draw the line?
