The boxes arrived at the Milwaukee Brewers’ hotel in Los Angeles last October, filled with matching denim jackets and pants for players’ wives, girlfriends and fiancées to wear to the World Series.
Instead, some women wore them to Game 4 of the National League Championship Series — when the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a sweep of the Brewers. Others saved them for the following season. Some went unworn.
“I just remember thinking, ‘I know we’re going to get to wear these again,’” said Natalie Zastryzny, whose husband, Rob Zastryzny, was part of the Brewers organization for three years. “Like, ‘Nobody throw these out. Keep everything.’”
The 2026 Brewers proved Zastryzny right, making it to the World Series for the first time in 44 years to face off against the Tampa Bay Rays. But Zastryzny and many baseball significant others are no strangers to the perils of October, where every scenario must be accounted for. Sometimes that means an excess of custom clothing tucked away until the following spring.
By the time the postseason begins, players’ partners are also in playoff shape. For many, that means dreaming up unique, baseball-centered outfits and figuring out how to acquire them in just a few days’ time. In an age where any small business can go viral on social media, in a world where even Taylor Swift has worn custom clothing to cheer on her husband’s professional sports team, the options are seemingly endless. Custom jackets, bedazzled jeans, intricate jewelry — all of it is possible in October, when the stakes are high and the women supporting their partners want their outfits to reflect that.
As players celebrate playoff series wins with champagne and beer, their wives and girlfriends are often already brainstorming what custom clothing they will wear to the next round and which vendors can help them get their dream designs done. The process requires an all-hands-on-deck approach — from wives, girlfriends and fiancées texting back and forth in group chats to the designers they commission working around the clock to complete and ship their products.
“I don’t think they’re sleeping at this point,” Kirsten Grimes, fiancée of Rays catcher Liam Hicks, said, “because (when) we ask for something, the answer is always yes. And they just make it happen.”
